The Return
by alligirl785
Summary: The return of an old friend sends the group into a tailspin of memories and unresolved issues. AU. seriously AU. Post season 3. Chapter 40 now up and remember that it's kind of a collection of flashbacks to the year between chapters 36 and 37...
1. Beginning Authors Note

The Return of Lilly Kane

Author's Note

So I don't know who was reading this story before, but originally it was written by sezza115.

I like the original concept, but she had writer's block and offered it up for "adoption". I thought it might be fun to finish.

I'm a fan of longer chapters, so I've fleshed out her first two chapters, but they're basically the same.

* * *

I hope readers of the original story like what I've done with it, if not, I'm sorry. 


	2. 1 Awake

**Title:** The Return of Lilly Kane 1-Awake

**Rating:** PG

**Characters/Pairings:** Veronica, Lilly Kane (the first), Logan, Weevil, Parker, Piz, Dick, Mac, Wallace

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in these first two chapters. And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return of Lilly Kane  
1  
Awake

--Veronica--

_I miss Lilly. She's been in a coma these last four years, basically dead to us and the world. Duncan, Logan and I used to sneak into her hospital room every week, we'd fill her in on our lives and what was going in town and in the world. We'd stay the whole night and day on October third. But now Duncan is off somewhere, playing dad. Logan and I have decided that it's time to move on, put this whole thing behind us. Lilly's been out of the game for four full years now, and it's unlikely she'll ever wake up. We haven't even been to see her since last October. So Logan and I have decided to pack up, invite all our friends, and vacation up at the Echolls' mountain cabin for the anniversary this year. Get out of town and try to forget. That is if you can call the mansion with a screening room, a pool, ten bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms a cabin. We're planning on there being nine of us total, but only seven I know are going for sure. Dick, Parker, Piz, Wallace, Mac, Logan and I are going for sure. Logan says the other two guests are a surprise, and no amount of sluething that I've done has uncovered exactly who it is. We leave in two days, but tonight Logan and I are heading to the hospital to stay with Lilly, one last time._

Grabbing a small duffel containing a couple pillows and blankets, a slew of fashion magazines and a speaker set for her iPod. Comfort and entertainment, for both her and Logan, since she was sure that Logan wouldn't think to bring anything but himself. Veronica walked swiftly out her bedroom door and towards the front door to the apartment, scooping up her keys and a light jacket as she went.

"Sweetie?" Veronica heard her father call her name, a moment later he was exiting his own bedroom. "I just got a call from a source at the hospital. Lilly is a awake."

Veronica stared at him for a moment, mouth dropped open in shock. Keith looked at her, waiting patiently for her to come out of it.

Dropping the duffel and jacket, Veronica rushed out the front door. She took the steps two at a time, nearly tumbling down a few times. Running to the parking lot, Veronica dropped her keys and had to get down on her knees to retrieve them from underneath a car. It took her only moments but the frustration of not being able to leave immediately mad her angry and clumsy.

Veronica jumped to her feet, keys in hand, practically tripping over them in her hurry to get to her car. Unlocking her car with the remote device, she climbed in. Taking a deep and hopeful breath, she calmed herself. Putting her face in her hands Veronica took a moment, and noticed her face was wet with tears she hadn't realized had fallen.

Lilly was awake.

* * *

Veronica arrived at the hospital in record time, surprised that she hadn't been pulled over. Apparently today was her lucky day. Vinnie Van Lowe's regime seemed to focus more on pulling people over than getting drug dealers and the like off the street. 

She ran quickly through the halls, taking the stairs instead of the overly slow elevator. Veronica knew exactly where Lilly's room was, had always been. Third floor, second hall to the right and third door on the left. Room 326.

Finally making it there she burst into the hallway and ran down it, skidding to a close outside what had always been Lilly's door. She entered the room cautiously, scared that her father might have gotten false information.

Lilly sat upright in bed, flipping through a fashion magazine with an arched eyebrow and a skeptical look on her face. Veronica smirked, of course the first thing Lilly would want to brush up on is the current styles. And of course she'd find them wanting.

"God Lilly. It took you long enough." Veronica breathed out, overwhelmed by the sight of her best friend finally awake.

"Veronica Mars. You look awesome. Tell me Madison didn't take my place, that you took over and rule with an iron fist. Well manicured, but still, an iron fist." Lilly said dramatically.

"No. There really was no replacing you. Although both Caitlyn Ford and Madison tried, neither could succeed as well as you." Veronica told her as she lowered herself to the end of Lilly's bed.

"And what about you? You didn't rule? You didn't punish Caitlyn and Madison for even attempting?" Lilly asked, her face finally transforming from calm and nonchalant to confused.

"Me? No I didn't rule, not even close." Veronica whispered, hanging her head low.

"So tell me."

So Veronica told Lilly the story of what had happened to her. She recounted her year and a half of hell at the hands of Logan. She told Lilly of her short friendship with Logan during that summer, her relationship with Duncan and it's sad demise. Lilly listened as Veronica recounted details of solved mysteries and how she had solved Lilly's own attack, the bus crash and her own rape. Finally Lilly listened to Veronica explain her relationship with Logan during her first year at Hearst. Veronica explained her life for hours, explaining the way she had become the person she was now, the people Duncan and Logan were. The three people that had to go on living without her.

It would be another day before Lilly was released. Veronica learned that even though she had just learned of Lilly waking up, Lilly had actually been awake for nearly six months. Jake and Celeste had kept it quiet, hoping that Lilly would be able to regain her health and a bit of her life in privacy. Celeste had been hoping that Lilly could regain the look and composure she needed to handle the media circus that was sure to come once the press got wind of it.

_Kane Heiress Finally Awakens!_

Lilly begged Veronica to call Logan, tell him that Celeste had set up camp in the hospital room and they wouldn't be able to visit like they had planned. Veronica called, and lied to Logan as she sat and stared at her best friend.

Finally Veronica agreed to leave. Lilly was tired and made the point that she wasn't going anywhere. Veronica agreed to keep it a secret that she was awake, and that she would return the next day. Celeste would be displeased to learn that Veronica knew, but it just made Lilly want her to come even more.

* * *

Eighteen hours later Veronica found herself standing in front of the door to Logan's suite. Looking behind her, she raised her hand and knocked lightly on the door. 

"You're late." Logan announced as he swung the door openly widely. Logan's focus shifted to behind her and his mouth dropped open.

"Lilly? Whe… how… when?" he stuttered out, his hand fumbling the door knob and causing it swing back, hitting him in the shoulder and causing him to stumble a bit to the side.

"Yesterday. Well actually I've been awake for about six months. But Veronica has known since yesterday." Lilly answered, seeing Logan glare at Veronica for keeping the information from him for even that long. Lilly rolled her eyes and pushed her way into the suite, pushing past Logan. "So, you want to explain Shelly's party?"

"Who's Shelly?"

Lilly turned around towards the voice, seeing four people she'd never seen before. And Dick.

"Hello mystery people and Dick. How're you?" She asked with a cheery smile, gazing at the strangers curiously before looking to Logan and Veronica for introductions.

"Lilly, this is Wallace, my step-brother. His roommate Piz, who is also my ex. My friend Mac and her roommate Parker, who is also Logan's ex." Veronica replied, pointing to each person as she went down the line of people sitting on the couch. When she reached the end she realized that someone was missing. She had called Logan and asked him to call him earlier. "Where is he? Logan you called him right? I specifically asked you to—"

"Chill V, I'm here." Weevil interrupted as he entered the room from the direction of the bathroom. "_Lilly?_"

"Eli?" Lilly asked, astonished to see him in what was currently Logan's home.

Veronica looked between the two of them and waited for the outburst.

"Veronica!" They shouted in unison.

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	3. 2 Homecoming

**Title:** The Return of Lilly Kane 2-Homecoming

**Rating:** PG-13 (for mentions of certain sexual situations)

**Characters/Pairings:** Veronica, Lilly Kane (the first), Logan, Weevil, Parker, Piz, Dick, Mac, Wallace

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in these first two chapters. And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return of Lilly Kane  
2  
Realization

--Logan--

Lilly was sitting out on the balcony, sipping out of a bottle of water and looking entirely too calm to be there. She'd been there an hour, and Logan still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she was awake. And Veronica had known. Even though she had only kept this from him for less then twenty-four hours, it still hurt. It still felt like a major betrayal.

Pushing off from his position on the couch he walked towards Veronica, who sat at the table, quietly explaining things to Parker and Piz. Mac and Wallace were standing nearby and Logan had a feeling they were listening in as well. Dick was standing near the balcony doors, staring at Lilly in shock. Weevil had barricaded himself in Logan's bedroom, probably pacing and thinking about today's events. And the domino effect they were likely to have.

Logan positioned himself at Veronica's elbow, waiting for her to end her story. He had to speak with her. They had to talk about this. It was a major event in their lives and like all events of this size he wanted to discuss it with her. He'd grown accustomed to her being there for him in times like this, and right now he knew he needed her.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts he noticed that there were five pairs of eyes on him. He smiled nervously at the others as he pulled Veronica out of her chair and ushered her into Dick's bedroom since his was already occupied.

"You couldn't have told me? Mentioned it to me on the phone yesterday? Or when you called and told me to invite Weevil over tonight?" Logan asked harshly once he had closed the door.

"She made me promise not to say anything. And after I spent four or five hours explaining my life to her she was tired and Celeste was due to show up. It isn't like you could have seen her, not with Celeste there. She almost hates you as much as she hates me. And then she was being released today and I said that I wouldn't say anything as long as this was the first stop we made." Veronica said, pushing her words out quickly. She and Logan had finally started to rebuild a friendship and trust, she didn't want to ruin that by letting him think she hadn't wanted to tell him.

"It just sucks, you know? Finding out with everyone else, four people who didn't even know her. And Dick." Logan said, his head hung low. The fight had left him and now he just felt drained. It had been a highly emotional hour, and his upset over Veronica's lie had been keeping him from fully accepting Lilly was back in their lives. There were likely to be some big changes in their lives due to the former love-of-his-life's re-entrance.

Veronica reached up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down into a hug. Logan's arms wrapped around her waist automatically, clinging to her and pulling her tight against his body. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck and inhaled her calming scent.

* * *

--Lilly--

"_You messed up so many lives when you went into your coma. But, some of them were messed up before that, like Logan's. And Weevil's. You're going to have to face those mistakes at some point."_

Lilly couldn't get Veronica's words out of her head, they plagued her. She had messed up.

She knew she had screwed with both Logan and Weevil–specifically their emotions–and she could apologize but that wouldn't make it right. And they all knew it too. There was so much damage done now that it couldn't be fixed with words.

Lilly sunk even further into her thoughts. She had loved the girl Veronica had been. Sweet and innocent, naïve and trusting, the old Veronica had been those things. But she had always been good, and a little boring when it came to partying and life, and of course when it came to sex. But now little Veronica Mars had grown up. She had lost her innocence in a way that Lilly couldn't even imagine, and with her innocence went her sweetness. She had become jaded in the ways of the world, her naiveté lost along with her trusting nature. But with those losses came the tough and demanding girl she had become. Veronica Mars was now a badass private detective who solved mysteries and crime, and so obviously had four of the five guys currently in the hotel suite wrapped around her little finger. And two of them were Lilly's former lovers. Logan had barely glanced at her with Veronica in the room, staring at her best friend with a mix of longing and hurt. Lilly felt guilty for making Veronica keep her condition a secret from him now.

Of course when it came to Logan there was a lot she felt guilty about. Logan had been her first love, in not her first lover. She had always thought that if she settled down with anyone, it would've been him. He was good-looking and witty, his clever remarks always did keep her on her toes. And on her back. He was amazing in bed, always had been. But with those things came the over-confidence that concealed a needy and clingy boy. Sure he seemed sure of himself, and that was the image he presented to the general public. Behind closed doors however, he had always clung to her and wanted too much. He was damaged, and according to Veronica it had been at the hands of his own father. His father, whom she had slept with. One more mark on the list of crimes she had committed against Logan, the guy she had once loved.

Then there was Eli. At first she had used him with the intention of throwing him in her mother's face. An ethnic and the help, a boy with a criminal record that was likely to give Celeste a heart attack. Lilly hadn't cared what it would do to him. Or Logan.

The whole damn situation was worthy of it's own soap opera. Or Jerry Springer.

* * *

--Weevil--

Seeing Lilly had rattled him. So much so that he had listened to Veronica's little speech without saying a word, then locked himself in Echolls' bedroom. Now he sat on the bed, staring at the door and wondering what was going on out there. If Lilly was having some joyful reunion with Echolls. If they were kissing and hugging and professing their undying love to each other. The two of them had always been so selfish, it was plausible. Maybe if he stared hard enough he'd develop the power to see through the door. Or burn a hole in it.

Sighing, Weevil flopped backwards onto the bed. It was comfy. Of course, being in a five-star hotel it wasn't much of a surprise that it was probably one of the most comfortable beds he'd ever been on. Glancing above his head Weevil saw a glimpse of something odd. There were odd looking fish mounted on the wall above the bed. _Five-star hotel and they can't get decent art?_ he thought to himself.

Pulling himself back up into a sitting position Weevil strained his ears, trying to hear what was going on. There was a little bit of a mumble, but he couldn't make out any words. It was Veronica though, probably explaining the details of their little drama to the new comers.

She had looked good. She'd only been awake for ten days in the last four years, but she looked perfect, as usual. Her blonde hair was a bit longer and perhaps she was thinner, but she looked nearly the exact same as she did the last time they had been together.

The same except for the look of shame that had crossed her face when Veronica had told her she'd messed up lives. The look had gotten worse as Veronica accused her of messing up his and Logan's lives even worse.

Weevil had known her, and the Lilly he'd known would have reveled in the fact that she'd caused such turmoil. He had known then that things between them would never have worked out. She was the 09er queen and daddy's little princess. He had been a biker and gang member, every father's worst nightmare and the guy all the girls thought they had to have when they entered their "bad boy" phase. It made sense that she dated Logan, king of 09ers, and not the lowly biker gang leader. Their lives were based on an undeniable social structure, and according to that structure rich white girls don't date Mexican bikers.

* * *

--Parker--

"Lilly?" Parker called out as she slowly opened the balcony door.

"Yes?" The quiet blonde replied, glancing back over her shoulder. "Parker right? The other girls' roommate, Logan's ex."

Parker nodded, accepting that as her identity. Veronica always introduced her as Mac's roommate, as if that was all she was to her now. There had only been one occasion where Parker had been introduced as a friend, and that was January 2007, before Logan and Veronica had gotten back together for the last time. Before Parker had dated Logan. At first the way Veronica viewed her had bothered her, she had so desperately wanted to be Veronica's friend. Now though, Parker just accepted it. Veronica was the way she was. She viewed everything in a 'me-versus-you' way, and since last February it had been Veronica versus Parker, the girl that had dated Logan.

"Are you okay? You've been out here a while, and to be honest you look a little out of it." Parker asked, already concerned for the girl that was likely never to become a real friend to her. She was Veronica's friend, and her loyalty would stay with her.

"No, not really. It used to be the four of us. Logan, Veronica, Duncan and I. No one could get in our little circle, we were that close. And believe me, they tried." Lilly paused with a wistful smile. "But then Donut started ignoring Veronica, and they stopped being together. The fairytale romance ended, and suddenly she was lost and he was more out of it than usual. Then Logan kissed Yolanda and I broke up with him. I started sleeping with Aaron to get back at him, and to get back at Celeste for the things she told Duncan and what she did to Veronica. And before I knew it I was in a coma and everything just when wrong." Lilly took a breath, calming herself and trying to discreetly wipe away a tear.

"Veronica and I could never just stop being friends. And it's not like Duncan had a choice but to talk to me, he's my brother. He lived with me, and try as he might, he couldn't keep me away. Then there was Logan and Duncan, joined at the hip since they were twelve. Of course, Ronica and I had them beat by a landslide, we've been best friends since I was four." Lilly stopped looking at Parker then, turning back to face the view of the Neptune skyline from her perch on the edge of a chair.

"We were all so talented, so perfect. The very cliché of the ideal high school experience. Veronica… she could get us out of trouble with just a tilt of her head and those big puppy dog eyes. And boy did we take advantage of that, Logan and I… we were constantly getting in trouble, dragging Ronnie and the Donut along for the ride." Lilly's voice started to get softer, quieter. Parker could hear the hint of tears in her voice as well. _It must be tough to wake up and realize everyone had moved on._

"At the beginning of Freshman year, I got raped. The guy shaved my head, as if the rape hadn't been bad enough. After that, I was a bitch to Veronica, blamed her for it. Didn't matter though, she still put herself in danger to find out who did it." Parker took a deep breath, willing herself to continue. "She was almost raped twice, and she still didn't back down. She stood up and went after him even more, she did it for me. And for the other girls, the other victims. She didn't have to, especially after the way I treated her. But she did, and she caught the guy. Guys." Parker took the seat next to Lilly, and seeing the interested look in the older girls' eyes she continued to tell her what exactly had happened, in as much detail as she could.

When Parker had finished the story, she stood and slipped back into the suite, closing the door softly behind her and leaving Lilly to her thoughts.

* * *

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	4. 3 Forgive

**Title: **The Return 3-Forgive

**Rating: **PG-13 (for some mentioned sexual situations)

**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly Kane, Logan, Veronica, Weevil _(mentions of: Parker, Piz, Wallace, Dick, Mac)_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Also, I'm not going to say who the pairings are right away. I know who they are, and its unlikely I'll change my mind, but I'm trying something new. I'm trying to not make the pairings so obvious from the start.

**A/N:** Don't expect all chapters to be up this quick, I just had some spare time while doing some Christmas baking.

* * *

The Return  
3  
Forgive

--Logan--

Logan stood at the balcony door of the suite, gazing at Lilly. She looked the same, and so different. She was thinner, probably because she hadn't eaten solid food in four year. Hadn't eaten _junk food_ in four years. She was paler too, from the lack of sunlight, or any light other than the florescent lighting of the hospital. The paleness brought out the dark circles under her eyes and the bruises that littered her arms, caused by IVs. She looked weak when he really looked at her. Weak and drained, like this whole evening had really taken a toll on her. Shaking his head, Logan gripped the handle and pushed the glass door open.

"Hey Lil, how're you holding up?" Logan asked, taking a seat next to her and staring at the view. He didn't look at her, let her have her own kind of privacy. They had all been staring at her through the windows, watching her every move. Logan knew what it was to be watched, he knew the importance of privacy and not being looked at.

"She has changed, _so_ much," Lilly answered, her voice so thick with tears it was barely audible. Logan looked at her now, shocked Lilly was showing so much emotion. So much weakness.

"Who?" Logan asked a moment before it clicked exactly who she was talking about. His clueless question got her to look at him, and she rolled her teary eyes.

"Ronnie? I guess so, not so much as it would seem though. She kind of had to change though, you know? She didn't have any friends left, and it was just her for a while. It was a year before Wallace moved to town and then it was just the two of them." Logan explained, not really thinking about the words falling out of his mouth. The words where he was admitting that he had abandoned her best friend to the cruelty of the school. And mostly to the people that had openly called her a friend and secretly despised her for her exalted position amongst them.

"Why didn't she have any friends, Logan?" Lilly asked him, her voice hard and unforgiving, quite a jump from the emotional vulnerability she was showing moments ago. "What did you?"

Logan's head hung in shame. Lilly wanted an answer for his biggest regret. She wanted to know why Logan had decided she was the enemy. There was no easy way for him to answer this.

"What did _you _do, Lilly? We didn't all get into this situation by ourselves, you know. We were all reacting to your situation, your death more or less. It was like you died and we had to learn to cope with it. Then she went on this quest, looking for who tried to kill you." Logan took a deep breath, willing himself to go on. Ever since he'd learned the truth he'd wanted to ask her this question. "My father, Lilly? Why?"

* * *

--Lilly--

"I didn't think much about how it would affect you. Or anyone else really. I just did it." Lilly had been dreading explaining this to Logan ever since she woke up. Her parents had forced an explanation our of her three months ago. They knew, so Logan and Veronica knew too. She'd probably tell more of the story to Veronica, but Logan still needed to know.

"I was there, to get my stuff and drop off yours. Your dad was home early, raging about that party you'd had while they were away. I was in the pool house." Lilly reached for the bottle of water, this was the most energy she'd had to exert since the end of her coma six months ago. "I was just about to get into the vent so I could get a drink, it'd been kind of draining. Packing up all your crap and hunting around your room and the pool house for mine. Thought I deserved a reward."

"This is all great Lilly, but I know this part. I got home and he beat the crap out of me for that party and the missing liquor in the pool house. Then I got to go upstairs and find all my stuff all over my bed and my room thrashed from you rummaging. Score for me." Logan looked impatient and annoyed, like he'd been holding this back since he first seen her at the door.

"When he came into the pool house I was already half drunk. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Such a great and drunken idea, to seduce your father. Prove that I had these great powers of seduction that no man could resist. And he didn't, barely even hesitated and I'm sure he was just mentally going through where you and your mom were and if you'd be home soon."

"Yeah, well that explains the first time. But there were several tapes in that vent, Veronica said there were three. And when I watched them, it didn't—"

"You watched them?" Lilly interrupted, she was shocked and appalled that he had seen her doing that. She had prayed that no one would have ever seen those tapes. Sure she had threatened Aaron that she was going to go to the tabloids, but she had never intended to go through with that threat. "There's no excuse for me continuing it, I can't say anything to make you feel better about it or make it alright."

* * *

--Veronica--

Veronica shifted nervously from one foot to the other, leaning her shoulder against the door frame to Dick's bedroom door. Weevil was still in Logan's bedroom and Dick had left to drive Parker and Mac back to Hearst on his way into the frat house. Wallace and Piz were still in the living room, amusing themselves with video games as they waited to see if she was alright.

Veronica had no doubt that Wallace had a genuine concern for her piece of mind, for her well being. Piz on the other hand had been following after her again. Suddenly it was as if their break-up wasn't as big deal as it was before. That it was okay because he was going to do this panting and pining thing again and in six months maybe she'd go out with him again.

Veronica blocked out the beeping of the game and the television, and the yelling of the two boys. Narrowing her eyes she glared out the balcony doors from several feet away. With the distance between her and the window and the window and them she was nearly twenty feet away, and it was getting dark. She had never invested her time in learning how to read lips, which she was kicking herself for now, and the lighting was now hiding a good majority of their gesturing and facial expressions. She had no idea what was going on and being said out there. But Logan looked kind of pissed.

Logan had been out there with Lilly for almost forty-five minutes, and she had been watching them the entire time. The last thing she had seen him do was glare angrily at Lilly, and that's when Veronica had to stop herself from going out there and refereeing the fight. It was odd how she seemed to want to slip back into her old position of peace keeper now that Lilly was back and fighting with Logan again.

She hadn't thought she'd be this protective of Lilly. Actually, that was a lie. She knew she was going to be protective of her around everyone, she just hadn't counted on her feelings to protect her from Logan and his anger.

_Sure, Lilly was a big girl and technically she was older than me by a year. But Lilly hasn't had the chance to fully grow up, she's still seventeen in her head._ Veronica thought to herself as she watched Logan grip the arms to his chair. _Yeah, Lilly always seemed older, and more mature for her age. It's the reason I idolized her for so long, but I know now that it was just a front. It's fun to act older. Like she was grown and could do whatever she wanted. Like adults don't have consequences too, like they go around sleeping with their boyfriends fathers all the time._

Veronica straightened when she saw Logan stand and start head towards the door. Lilly continued looking directly ahead of her, at the view of the balcony, and probably deep in thought.

She rushed back into Dick's room and flung herself backwards onto the bed, wiggling a little to make it look like her body was settled into the mattress and she'd been there a while. It wouldn't do for him to catch her spying on them. She'd be embarrassed and he'd make a comment about her jealousy steak. Or it'd go the opposite direction, he'd get embarrassed and she'd have to make jokes to ease them out of the situation.

"Hey," Logan said, his voice low as he settled into the door frame, reassuming her position moments earlier. He crossed his arms in front of his chest briefly before dropping them down to fidget, then crossing them once more.

"Nice chat?" Veronica asked, not really wanting to know the truth. If they'd been fighting she would be angry that's he'd upset her like that. If they'd been making up she'd be disappointed that he forgave her so easily, like he always had in high school.

"Some of it was, other parts not so much." Taking a deep breath, Logan flopped back on the bed next to her before continuing. "I told her there were things I may never forgive her for and others that would take some time. But right now, I told her not to worry about making an effort to court said forgiveness. She's too weak and it'll just have to happen naturally, that it would have to take time."

Propping herself up on her elbow and bringing her head down to rest comfortably in her hand, Veronica looked at Logan with a renewed sense of interest. Looking down at the boy she'd known about eight years now, she could see a clear outline of the man he was going to become. Forgiving and fair. Loyal.

"Eventually, you'll put it behind you. You'll get past it, even though sometimes it doesn't feel like it'll ever happen. But at some point you actually end up leaving the past in the past." Veronica told him, dropping back down to the mattress.

"Yeah…" Logan whispered, his voice fading off as his eyelids fell shut.

Stretching her hands over her head and tightening her body to the point where it bowed off the bed, Veronica stretched. Yawning, she rolled completely onto the side facing Logan and let herself drift off to sleep, followed by dreams of their once happy group as she tried desperately to accommodate all the sheets from Logan in their slumber.

* * *

--Weevil--

He'd come out of the room for a moment, just a second, to see what was happening. It had been quiet for a while, the loud Casablancas kid's voice was no longer bellowing and flirty with the girls. In fact, it seemed almost as if everyone had left and simply forgotten that he Weevil was even there.

He was right.

Weevil poked his head out of the bedroom door, fully prepared to rejoin his 'friends'. In fact, he was looking forward to reaming Veronica out, bitching at Logan and ignoring Lilly. The best laid plans, and all that, right?

With one glance he saw Veronica leaning against a door, staring intently at something and blocking the rest of the world out. Weevil recognized that look on her face. Protective. He'd seen it many a time, mostly when he was threatening Rich Boy or her sidekick. But he knew who this look was for, who she was watching, and with just a slight angling of his neck he had a clear view.

Lilly.

Lilly and Logan to be exact. They were sitting on the balcony, engaged in some intense conversation. Echolls was smiling and Lilly was looking at him in that way she had, the way that made him want to do anything she asked. The way that made him melt.

When Echolls leaned in to Lilly, whispering something to her, Weevil couldn't stand it any longer. He couldn't sit here and watch Lilly go running back to him, the way she always had.

And just like that, they were all instantly transported back to being sophomores in high school. It was four years later, and they were still all caught up in this same mess.

* * *

Feedback is _so_ appreciated, especially since this is my first foray into the land of AU fics. IF this one works out, I've already got another one that I've been thinking about. So feedback gets more chapters and new stories... hint... 


	5. 4 Arrival

**Title: **The Return 4-Arrival

**Rating: **PG-13 (for some profanity)

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Lilly Kane, Veronica, Piz, Wallace _(mentions of: Parker, Dick, Mac, Weevil)_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Also, I'm not going to say who the pairings are right away. I know who they are, and its unlikely I'll change my mind, but I'm trying something new. I'm trying to not make the pairings so obvious from the start.

* * *

The Return  
4  
Arrival

--Logan--

"Ladies and Gentlemen. And Veronica." Logan shouted out, standing in front of the group standing before him.

"Shut up, ass hole!" Veronica replied from her position, leaning against his car, next the open back passenger door where Lilly still sat.

"Continuing on. Since there were two last minute editions to our party, even though I still don't know why Weevil had to come. But nonetheless, there will not be quite enough bedrooms for everyone to get their own. Four of you will have to share, and since I own the house and therefore am providing the locale for this little vay-kay, I'm not sharing. The room at the end of the hall is off limits since it's already set up for my 'special guests'." Logan did the air-quotes as he turned to walk up the steps to the cabin. He'd honestly only wanted to invite Veronica on this trip, but she wouldn't have come if he had just told her it was a surprise. If he could have gotten her to agree it would just been him and her. The other guests here were unnecessary to what he had planned, but the trip provided a good bonding experience between him and his new 'friends'.

"Also, and I should mention this because it really is important. Veronica and Lilly already have bedrooms, since this isn't their first trip." He unlocked the door with a flourish and swung it open. "So the remaining six of you can fight it out amongst yourselves who gets what rooms and who rooms with who." With that he disappeared into the cabin to put his things in the room that had always been his.

He knew exactly who else was upstairs, but he'd let everyone else figure it out for themselves.

* * *

--Lilly--

"Classic Logan." Lilly commented as she hopped out of his SUV. "Dick? Will you grab my bag? I can't exactly carry it myself."

The request was called out over her shoulder, her hair shining in the sun and totally hypnotizing Dick. Rushing to the back of Logan's car, he lifted the hatch and started to unload Lilly's luggage.

"Dick? You should get Veronica's too. After all, she's much too little to carry all of that up." Lilly made the request, knowing that Dick would take it as an order. As he should. She was having a hard time separating the girl she was and the people her friends had become. Veronica didn't take orders or back down, didn't wait for Lilly to take the lead. And Logan certainly hadn't dropped to his knees at her feet to declare his devotion. Not that she'd really expected him to after the whole Aaron thing, but it was still a change from his days of begging her to take him back. The Donut was apparently off somewhere, raising his illegitimate love child with a girl that had barely registered on Lilly's radar pre-coma. But the one constant, Dick Casablancas' desperate need for her approval and attention. And his complete inability to refuse Lilly Kane's 'requests'.

Walking up the stairs to her room on the second floor she had an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. She remembered being fourteen, and running down the halls of this house with Veronica, just before her own fourteenth birthday. She remembered getting caught having sex with Logan by his sister in the hot tub when she was fifteen and he was barely fourteen. And mostly she remembered the summer of 2003, the last summer the four of them had spent together. The summer that they had driven up to the cabin every other week for the lake and to get away from all the Neptune bull shit. Lilly let her eyes fall shut as she reached the top of the stairs.

The perfect summer that felt like only a couple of months ago to her, but years to all other parties involved.

Taking a deep breath and letting her eyes open again, Lilly envisioned her baby brother walking down the hall again. That lumbering swagger that all guys have and is somehow specific to each one. Blinking Lilly tried to wipe away the mirage of her brother, but was shocked when she couldn't.

Reaching out, she stuck out one finger and poked him in the chest.

"Oh, my God!" She squealed out at the same time he looked up and saw her.

"What the hell?" Duncan's eyes were round and large, shocked. Apparently he was Logan's surprise guest and her ex hadn't had the time to inform her bro of her presence. "Lilly? You're awake."

And with that, he enveloped her in a bone crushing hug.

* * *

--Veronica--

She hadn't expected this. Out of all the surprise guests, Veronica would have thought that Logan had arranged some movie star. Like Connor Larkin and his current girlfriend.

As Duncan leaned back to gaze at his big sister, Veronica watched as Logan looked longingly at the pair. Veronica turned and headed in the direction of what she knew to be the kitchen, she needed a beer. Half way there she heard footsteps behind her.

"Don't you need to be battling it out over rooms?" Her voice was probably harsher than she needed it to be, but she didn't need to give him any false hope. This was part of mission-broken-dreams, her plan to really get it through his head that they weren't going to happen.

"No. Dick decided that since Wallace and I room at college we shouldn't have a problem rooming here. Of course when he decided this he called Wallace Winston and referred to me as Piss. Parker and Mac are sharing, too. Dick's theory again. I thought that the girls should each get their own rooms, but Dick said that there was no way in hell that he was gonna room with an 02er gang-banger. I don't know what he meant by that, isn't he the maintenance guy at school?" Piz answered, staring at Veronica with those big pining, puppy dog eyes that annoyed her beyond anything else. They were near the top of the "Why Piz annoys the fuck out of me" list, the very same list she used as a referenced ads inspiration during their big break up scene.

"Yeah, well, Weevil hasn't always been a maintenance guy. Although, if you ask Logan it was always his destiny. Just like Weevil would say that it was always Logan's destiny to…" Veronica looked up at Piz to find the puppy look back, at the mention of Logan's name. "Nevermind."

Veronica left Piz standing in the hallway between the living room and the kitchen, looking after her. Anymore of this awkward small talk with him where she tried, unsuccessfully, to explain her and everybody else's past together and she'd go crazy. He didn't seem to really get her, or them, or the place in which they lived. He didn't grasp the concept that Neptune was not a place for warm and fuzzies, it was not a chicken-in-every-pot-mini-van-in-every-driveway place. It was not like where he came from, it was different and dark and corrupt and the kids that grew up there had to grow-up quickly and in a different way than he did. They became jaded and shrewd business leaders, money-makers that went on to run Fortune-500 companies. Or worked for them.

Reaching into the fridge and grabbing a beer, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Read my mind. Couldn't watch the family reunion upstairs?" Logan asked, walking towards her in that predatory way that seemed so innate to him. "Me neither."

"It's not that I couldn't watch it, just didn't want to. We got our reunions with Lilly, and I'll have my reunion with Duncan. Just not right now, right now is for them." Veronica corrected, replacing her beer in the fridge and taking out a coke. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Changed my mind. At first I thought I'd have fun and take a beer, but then I remembered that I don't like beer and I'd rather wait for those fruity drinks you're bound to buy at some point."

"There's some in there, near the back. I had the caretaker guy bring some up for you. They're strawberry or something." Logan tipped his beer back as he watched her dive in for the other bottles.

"My hero. Getting me drunk, and catering to my tastes in the process." Veronica twisted off the cap, raised the drink slightly in a salute to him and took a large gulp.

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone where you got it. Parker would probably drink them all and Lilly would scold you for forgoing the hard stuff." Logan spun on his heel and headed to unknown parts of the house, probably to go play videogames.

* * *

--Wallace--

They'd been here a full fifteen minutes and he already felt completely out of place.

Logan had found and invited Duncan Kane. And now, due to some inexplicable coincidence, Lilly Kane had woken up and joined them as well. Now the legendary foursome that Wallace had heard so much about was reunited. The mythical creatures of what they were before Lilly went all coma were about to make a reunion tour and lucky him, he had front row seats.

Still, it didn't mean he understood the show. Both Piz and Parker had nagged him the whole trip up. Asking and asking what was Lilly like, how close were she and Veronica. Would this change everything? All good questions, and oddly enough, all the very same questions Wallace wanted to ask.

They would have been better off asking Mac or Dick or Weevil. They'd all at least been in Neptune before Lilly Kane had gone into her coma. Unfortunately all three of them were in the third car of their little caravan. Weevil refused to ride with Logan or Lilly, and Wallace refused to ride with Dick or Weevil. Mac wouldn't drive in anyone else's car but her own, and in the end accidentally volunteered to take the last two passengers.

"I _don't_ know Parker, ask Mac. I never met Lilly, didn't even know she existed until almost a year into her coma. Mac has lived in Neptune all her life and Dick was actually one of her friends, ask one of them." Wallace threw his hands up in frustration, walking out of the foyer and into the greater part of the house, looking for a couch. He had a headache.

As out of place as he felt, Parker and Piz must be feeling it much worse. They hadn't known any of them until after high school, and when it came down to it, they were all high school friends and shared high school memories. They had stories about high school that couldn't compare with the ones from Beaverton or Colorado. They were stories that started out with "When I was steeling files and snooping for information for one of my best friend's cases…" or "The time I was pinned on a pool table by the Irish mob…" or "When I was arrested/accused for murder…"

_How does one top that?_ They don't, they just learn to live with their average teenage memories while others have to remember a time filled with murder and intrigue.

Flopping on the couch, Wallace sighed deeply.

"Rough day?" Logan asked, staring at him with one eyebrow raised, a smirk and a beer in on hand.

"Piz and Parker are driving me nuts with all the questions about Lilly. Is Lilly this. Will Lilly and Veronica do that. Are Lilly and Logan gonna get back together? After all, you said they were a big deal before." Wallace replied, throwing his right forearm over his eyes as he spoke.

"What?"

"That was more Parker's question. That and if Veronica is going to change and stop talking to her now that her _real_ best friend is back." Wallace paused, in thought. "You know, nobody has asked me how _I_ am. What _I_ feel. If _I'm_ worried about my best friend ditching me for her old BFF. Trading in the new model for the favored old one. You know why? Because I'm not worried, and I don't know why she is."

"You shouldn't be, Veronica can be friends with more than one person at a time. And you're friendship is different than what theirs was.

"Good to know."

* * *

**A/N:** So the inspiration bug has really bit and I've been able to write another chapter. Usually the way it goes is I take a couple days mapping out the chapter in my head (mostly dialog and emotion descriptions) and then write it all in one night. But both yesterday and today the chapter basically wrote themselves. So tell me if you think the chapter seemed rushed or not up to par since it didn't get the usual amount of time I take to write. 


	6. 5 Reconnect

**Title: **The Return 5-Reconnect

**Rating: **PG-13 (for some profanity and mentions of sexual situations)

**Characters/Pairings:** Weevil, Piz, Duncan, Lilly (the first), Veronica, Wallace _(mentions of: Logan, Parker, Dick, Mac, Lilly the second)_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Also, I'm not going to say who the pairings are right away. I know who they are, and its unlikely I'll change my mind, but I'm trying something new. I'm trying to not make the pairings so obvious from the start.

* * *

The Return  
5  
Reconnect

--Weevil--

Weevil sat in a small room containing a piano, a couch, an arm chair and a freestanding globe, that he thought might be one of those open-the-top-and-its-a-bar things. He was just considering opening it up and checking when Wallace's little roommate, Pick, came shuffling in, dropping himself into the arm chair.

"Can I help you?" Weevil asked in a tone he tried to make only mildly-intimidating.

"She basically ignores me, and when she's not ignoring me she gives me the shortest answer possible." Pick answered, apparently not picking up on the intimidating tone and the undertones of get-the-hell-out.

"I assume you're talking about V, so I'm going to actually give you some advice, even thought that wasn't an actual offer." Weevil said in annoyance, wondering how many guys were going to end up like this, vying for Veronica's attention. "Give it up, she doesn't want you and she's probably not going to want you again. You're wasting your time trying to become something to her. You're not in her tax bracket and you have been arrested or accused of a felony."

"What do you mean? Felony?" Now Pick looked interested, his eyes widened and making him look more stupidly innocent.

"Murder, arson, kidnapping, assault, breaking and entering, and I'm sure there are more. The point is, you haven't even been accused of any of these, let alone committed them." Weevil rolled his eyes at Pick's blank face, still not understanding. "Both Duncan and Logan have, and they were the great loves of her life, right?"

"I guess…" The boy trailed off, looking at the floor and avoiding eye contact. _Shit, now I have him planning a felony to get V's attention._

"I know why I'm here, kind of, but what exactly are _you_ doing here, Flopsie?" Weevil asked, a little surprised that Wallace's little roommate didn't seem too bothered by the nickname. Proof that he was constantly teased about this whole hair situation, and not making a point to get a new haircut.

"I'm not sure why I'm here, in Logan's house. After he went psycho on my last year."

"You're lucky." Weevil commented, glancing around the room and wondering where all the other people had gone.

"What? I had to go to the hospital because of…" Pick trailed off at the look that Weevil, the angry looking guy in leather and covered in tattoos, was sending him.

"You're _lucky_, because if I'd have found you first it would have been worse. Taping you bare ass naked to a flag pole in the middle of campus was old school Weevil. New school Weevil has been to prison." Weevil explained, getting up and moving as far away from the innocent little dork.

A quick walk of the house and he'd located everyone. Lilly was on the bed in Duncan's room playing with her niece and catching up with her brother. Veronica was tapping away at her laptop, probably researching a case, in her room. The door was open, inviting visitors, but her headphones were on and her iPod volume up. Echolls was already playing videogames with Casablancas in the game room and Wallace was patiently waiting for his turn while heckling them. In the kitchen Mac and Parker had busied themselves with making dinner.

Weevil made his way up to the room that he had claimed, and flopped on to the bed. This had somehow become something he did. Flopping onto beds. He was bored, and surrounded by pretty white people intent on ignoring him.

He should have stayed home.

* * *

--Duncan--

"So, six months? You'd think mom and dad would have tried to inform me of this little development." Duncan said bitterly, watching Lilly play with his daughter. A warm smile taking over his face, his Lillys.

"You know mom, _I'm_ not a big deal. If it had been you coming out of the coma she would have had a ticker-tape parade." Lilly's voice was full of sarcasm and it's own brand of bitterness. "Instead I got hidden and kept secret. The only reason Veronica found out is the nurse at the desk ran across my top secret release papers and called Mr. Mars. Can you believe dad had him fired?"

"Well, I've kind of had a few years to deal with that one Lil, but it still shocks me a bit. Dad always seemed like he liked Veronica's dad, but of course who really ever _likes_ their lover's husband?" Duncan asked as he slid his knee onto the mattress, making it dip down and getting his daughter's attention. When she started getting too close to the edge he moved further in to lay down on the bed.

They looked so cozy, the three of them. Duncan was lying on the right side of the bed, arms folded under his head. Lilly kneeled on the bottom left corner, grinning and clapping at her niece while trying to keep up conversation with her little brother. Little Lilly was between them, going back and forth, trying to decide who she wanted to play with more. Daddy or Aunt Lilly.

"I'm a little shocked that Logan brought you up here with everyone, that he's even speaking to you." Duncan commented, letting his eyes close for a moment.

"Yeah, well Logan could never really stay mad at me. He's been forgiving and invited me to come along all on his own, without any hints needing to be dropped." Lilly reached out and tickled her namesake, causing them both to giggle a little.

"Really?" Duncan was more than shocked now, resentful Logan Echolls letting something like this slide? That didn't sound right.

"Yeah, I think our little boy is finally growing up Donut." Lilly said, her voice letting on that he hadn't been as down with the forgiving and forgetting as he might think.

"So he just let the fact that you had an affair with his dad and consequently put in a coma because of it go? He was just 'bygones' and never brought it up again?" Duncan was starting to feel uneasy, and he didn't believe for a second that Logan could be that forgiving. His best friend may have grown up, but there wasn't a single person on Earth that would forgive their ex-girlfriend for cheating with their father.

"It's not like he hasn't had a few years to get over that point Duncan. He just didn't make a big deal of it the _one time_ we talked about it. And no, he hasn't brought it up again, but he never once mentioned the word _bygones_." Lilly seemed like she was getting annoyed with this line of questioning, and Duncan thought it best to let it go for now.

"She seems to really like you, like she know exactly who you are already." Duncan said, focusing on his daughter and her now rather than her and Logan.

"Yeah, well, she should. You mind telling me exactly how she came to be?" Lilly probed. "I mean, with Logan as your best friend and me as your sister you really should have gotten the gist of condoms. And I _know_ you took a health class that showed you their proper use and exactly how to put them on."

"Condoms aren't one-hundred percent Lil, they break and have holes. Says so on the box and everything. But if you really want to know how she came to be… well, you should have learned that in that same health class you mentioned. But when a boy _really _likes a girl—"

"I fucking know that part, Donut! And I'd prefer you didn't go into too much detail about that." Lilly interrupted him with a screech, startling him and the baby. Little Lilly looked up at her aunt with wide shocked eyes before going back to playing with the pillow that had captured her attention. "What I wanted to know was how did you manage to get Meg Manning to give it up?"

"I loved her, told her so and suddenly we were naked in my room while mom and dad were out of town. Then we were in the backseat of my car, on the couch while she was babysitting, on the beach, in the backseat of her car…" Duncan supplied the answer, giving her details she still probably didn't want to know.

"I'm a little proud of your horny little self, there was a time when I thought you'd wait for marriage. In fact, there was a time when I thought that Veronica would wait for marriage too and then there you'd be, two virgins on your wedding night and no idea of how to actually _do it_." Lilly gave Duncan a proud and somehow lewd at the same time, before continuing on. "So you slept with her a bunch of time in a bunch of different places. Told her you loved her to get into her pants and then when she got knocked up high tailed it out of the relationship?"

"No!" Duncan was appalled at the mere thought that he would have done that had he known of her pregnancy. "That is _not_ how it happened at all. We were together for a while, but I couldn't stop being in love with Veronica and in the end I broke up with Meg to try and work things out with Veronica because things with Meg weren't working. If I'd known she was pregnant, I probably would have tried a little harder with Meg, but she didn't tell me. By the sound of the letter I found, she had written to her aunt and asked to go live with her. She was never intending to tell me that she was pregnant, she was just going to move to Seattle and never talk to me again."

"You broke up with Meg for Veronica? That doesn't seem to have worked out either, why?" Lilly's interest was piqued, the thought of her brother making her best friend her sister still intrigued her. When they had all thought Veronica was their sister she had been happy about it. Wanted to tell Veronica right away, but the fact that Duncan had dated her made things messy and Lilly had kept it to herself.

"It fell apart when Veronica found out that Meg was pregnant, and when she found out that I already knew and kept it from her things really went down hill. Then Meg died and I had to get Lilly out of the country and away from Meg's parents. Mom and dad refused to help, said that it would ruin my life and all the things they wanted for me. What they meant was it would ruin my chances at a political career and I'd probably never be president with an illegitimate child. Like I cared. So Veronica helped me and with my being on the lam and all, we thought we should break up." Duncan didn't mention that if Veronica really loved him she would have gone with him, that he knew she stayed because she didn't care enough.

"If Veronica really wanted to be with you, she would have gone with you." Lilly said, looking out the bedroom door towards the staircase. Duncan leaned over and watched Weevil turn the corner to head up to the third floor where his temporary bedroom was. "Why did she stay?"

"Her dad. Wallace. School." Duncan supplied the three most obvious first, deliberating on the third reason before finally giving in and saying it out loud. "Logan."

Lilly silently watched as her hands twisted into the fabric of the duvet coverlet, bobbing her head up and down in a nod of acceptance.

* * *

--Veronica--

"So BFF, you wanna go for a walk?" Veronica asked, walking in through his bedroom door without being invited. It had taken a while to find him, but after searching the rest of the house and threatening Dick she had gotten his location. Of course during Dick's fun game 'I know something you don't know' she'd had to correct him, telling him that Wallace's name was _not_ Winston and Piz's name was not really Piss. Although she did find it funny that they were all on this trip and Dick still hadn't managed to get their names right.

"Wow, one on one time with you, how do I rate?" Wallace asked, the question coming off resentful and kind of jealous-boyfriendy. Veronica cringed, knowing how right he was. She hadn't really spent a lot of time with him, and this trip had turned into some kind of reunion of sorts between Logan, Lilly, Duncan and herself. Alienating everyone else.

"I'm sorry, I know things have been really weird and chaotic lately, and I haven't exactly been the best friend I should be, but I really do want to take a walk with you. You're the only drama-free one here." Her eyes shut as soon as the last sentence came out. She knew how that sounded.

"Well, since I don't cause you any problems or angst, wait just a sec while I get my coat." Wallace looked angry, and Veronica knew why.

"That's not how I meant that, and I'm sorry. If you give me a second to get my foot out of my mouth I'll rephrase." Veronica sat on the edge of Wallace's bed.

"I know this week has been huge for you, V, but you've kind of shut me out of it." Wallace's voice was low and sad, his vulnerability and insecurity showing through.

"And I really suck for that, and I'm really sorry. I know I haven't really included you in any of it, but dealing with Lilly is a full time gig. Just trying to get her caught up on everything going on is a chore. It took me a full three hours to get her to believe that Tom Cruise married Joey from Dawson's Creek. I had to provide photographic proof and in the end convinced her with a YouTube clip of that Oprah episode. Then I had to teach her how to use YouTube and then keep her from putting that video of us lip-syncing to the Spice Girls on there." Veronica explained, smiling down at Wallace in the end.

Wallace scooted over on the bed, making room for her and signaling that she could get comfortable, that he had at least forgiven her that much.

"Can't have that out there on the internet for everyone to see now can you?" Wallace asked rhetorically before adding, "Not like the video I have of you doing karaoke at Java the Hut."

Wallace dodged Veronica's half-hearted punch as she fell back onto the bed next to him. Wiggling around a little, Veronica looked over hat Wallace with a pout.

"What?"

"I'm cold."

With a roll of his eyes Wallace sat up, reached for the blanket at the foot of the bed and pulled it over both him and Veronica as he lay back down.

"Now, once upon a time…" Wallace started, snuggling under the blanket and holding it tightly to his chin. Veronica dissolved into giggles as she fought for her share of the blanket, which he readily offered up.

"Seriously, did you really put that on there?" Veronica asked, looking at Wallace with large pleading eyes.

"Even if I say no, you'll still check as soon as you get back to your room and to your lap top." Wallace said. His head was perfectly straight forward, like he was looking at the ceiling, but his eyes were strained to the right, looking at her. "But no, I did not put a video of you on YouTube."

"And that's why you're my best friend." Veronica simply stated, seeing the tension ease out of his body with relief. She knew he was worried, Lilly Kane had returned and with her came the possibility that she no longer needed him.

Even though Lilly was still her best friend and always would be, but she was the best friend of yester years. There was no changing the fact that they'd been friends since pre-school.

But Wallace knew her, who she was now. He knew here and accepted her and loved her. He was there for her through the most difficult times in her life and Veronica would never forget that.

Wallace was her best friend. No substitutions, no other applicants need apply.

No replacements accepted.

* * *

**A/N:** Again, this chapter is up pretty quickly because my muse is working overtime. Score for me. Score for you. Feedback is Love, so don't hesitate. Especially on the scene between Weevil and 'Pick' (that's Weevil's version of Piz's name, since he could care less), since that's the one I'm the most worried about because the didn't have _any_ scenes in canon. 


	7. 6 Belong

**Title: **The Return 6-Belong

**Rating: **PG-13 (for some profanity)

**Characters/Pairings:** Veronica, Logan, Piz, Parker _(mentions of: Lilly the first, Duncan, Dick, Mac, Wallace, Weevil)_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Also, I'm not going to say who the pairings are right away. I know who they are, and its unlikely I'll change my mind, but I'm trying something new. I'm trying to not make the pairings so obvious from the start.

**A/N:** Okay, so this is my first attempt at Piz's voice. I made him slightly more insightful, but still a little oblivious to the way things are. That's the part I'm most nervous about. Oh, and the Logan/Veronica conversation. Okay, I'm nervous about the whole thing.

* * *

The Return  
6  
Belong

--Veronica--

Sprawled out on her stomach on the bed in the room she currently occupied, Veronica stretched, arching her back and pushing her arms out as far as she could reach. With the movement her torso pushed deeper into the mattress, making her look 'U' shaped as her legs were bent at knee and sticking straight in the air. Releasing the position and letting her taut body relax again she refocused her eyes on her computer screen.

She was putting in some face time with her lap top, getting a break from the human species. She'd been alternating her time between Lilly and Wallace for the past three days, spending as much time with both of them while trying not to alienate anyone else. Logan had pretty much set up camp in the game room with Duncan and Dick, occasionally Wallace when she wasn't around. And occasionally Piz when Logan wasn't around. She wasn't quite sure why they had thought inviting Piz or Parker was a good idea, but when Logan had suggested it she had agreed. Now she wished that Logan had only invited her, so that when they had found out about Lilly they could of come up and it would just be the four of them. Then again that would've been weird her ex-boyfriend asking her to take a trip up into the mountains, even if _he_ knew that they were going up to meet Duncan.

_Still, we could of left out the awkward exes._ Veronica thought to herself, glancing at her open bedroom door. Any minute now she expected Piz to come in and give her the puppy face, asking her to 'go for a walk'. Or Parker, telling her she thinks she may have been too hasty, ending things with Logan the way she did. Or Dick, wondering why the hell she was doing homework. Or Logan, leaning oh so casually on the door frame, smirking at her.

Actually, she didn't have to expect that one anymore, because there he was, doing exactly that.

"Can I help you?" Veronica questioned, her tone innocent and casual.

"This is pretty weird, everyone else here on vacation. Lilly awake from a coma. Duncan and his daughter here, even though he's facing a kidnapping charge. And you, sitting up here doing homework." Logan moved from the door frame to tower above her.

Craning her neck back to look straight up at him, she replied in the same nonchalance that he'd used. "It'd only be weird if it were Dick doing homework. I'm a brown-nosing over-achiever. Remember?"

The right corning of Logan's mouth lifted a little more, turning the smirk into a smile. "True."

She saved her files and exited out of all her programs, shutting the computer down. Slowly she shut it, scooting over at the same time to make room for Logan. "Again, can I help you?"

Logan walked around the bed to lay next to her, completely parallel. His legs hung off one side of the bed and his arms the other if he didn't keep them folded up. Turning his head slightly to the right, Logan looked directly into her eyes.

"What's going to happen now?" He questioned, the look in his eyes telling her that he was talking more about her plans for the remainder of the day.

"With what Logan? Now that Lilly's awake or that you've brought Duncan back?" Veronica had no tolerance for beating around the bush today, especially with this particular topic.

"Both, but mostly with the Lilly thing. Duncan might not stay, so he's not really a big deal. But Lilly… She's not going anywhere. Not unless you decided to move to Siberia." Logan said, a sudden though coming over him and causing his eyes to darken with the seriousness of his next sentence. "_Don't_ move to Siberia."

"Okay, I won't move to Siberia." Veronica laughed a little at Logan before getting serious again herself. "I don't know what what's going to happen now. I guess it all depends on the next move. Lilly may want to finish up high school and then start going to Hearst. Or she may finish high school and got to Vassar like she wanted. I can't exactly predict what Lilly is going to do. Remember? That wasn't something that was ever possible."

"I meant with us." At Veronica's stern look, Logan went on. "I don't mean _us_ us. I mean us, like you and me and our friends. I mean us, as in you and me and the friendship we've finally figured out. I mean the way we are without her, who we are. What happens to the people we became without her. Because it's all going to change you know, everything."

Veronica's stomach dropped, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She had told Wallace that nothing was going to change, that they'd always be like they always were. She had told herself the same thing. That nothing was really different, just one extra friend, but when she looked at it now all she could see was the lie she told herself. That everything would be the same.

She hated change.

But it would have to change. Case in point right in front of her, Logan didn't let anything be. Logan Echolls was usually the catalyst for change, whether it was for the good or the bad, he made things change.

_Crap.

* * *

_

--Logan--

Veronica is starting to fidget with the comforter, and he's starting to realize just how little she had thought about this.

That wasn't the girl he knew now. The girl he knew was always prepared and thought about things. Over-analyzed. The one that didn't think about consequences and side-effects was the old Veronica. The Old Veronica always thought all good things came for free, there wasn't ever any price on her happiness. All good things came for free, while it was the bad things you paid for.

"I mean, are we still us? Or is Lilly really going to change everything?" _Is Lilly going to change you into someone else?_

Logan couldn't ask the question. He knew as soon as he did it would transform into some jab at her independence and she was going to get mad and they would fight. She has a mind of her own, he knew that. He also knew how powerful the draw of Lilly Kane was, and he knew what a tight hold she could have on you when you were stuck in her web. It was near impossible to leave break free.

"We'll always be us, Logan. It doesn't change the fact that we have a friendship separate from them." Veronica nudged him with her shoulder, almost pushing him off the small part of the bed she had afforded him.

"I hope so, especially considering…" Logan let himself trail off, unsure how to broach the topic of Duncan's return. There had been now discussion on whether or not Duncan would be there long-term, just that he was there and all was good.

Logan had gotten a call a little over a month ago, from Clarence Weidman of all people. Logan had been cryptically informed that _Donuts would be back in season next month if he was interested and had a secure location._ Logan had gone about his grocery shopping, looking behind him periodically with a concern that the crazy man was stalking him.

Two days later it dawned on Logan exactly who he was and what that statement would mean. Of course, that's when he'd gotten a letter with instructions. That's when they had made all the plans for Duncan to be in Aspen, for Veronica and Logan to be there, for the rest of their friends to attend as a cover (Logan's idea, to cover for the weirdness that was surely to happen with just him and his ex-girlfriend). Never once had they discussed how long Duncan could stay. Now Logan wished he would have asked.

"Especially considering _what_, Logan?" Veronica asked, seemingly not for the first time, pulling Logan from his thoughts.

"Considering that we didn't have too much of that the last time it was the four of us." Logan rushed out, chickening out on his real question. He could tell she knew that wasn't what he really wanted to say, but she didn't push it.

"Well, we've changed. All of us. Well, except for maybe Lilly, but it's not like that was her choice. If she had been awake these last four years she wouldn't be the same." Veronica paused, a small smile on her face as she looked off to the side in thought. "Of course, if she had been awake all these years there's a pretty good chance that none of us would be the same, and we wouldn't be friends with any of these people. Except Dick, I don't thing we'll ever escape him."

"Speaking of friends, how are Wallace and Lilly getting along?" Logan decided a change of subject was needed before things got tense and awkward and they stopped dancing around the subject. Was she going to go back to Duncan if he was back?

"They haven't really seen each other, actually. It's not like I'm purposely keeping them apart, they just don't have much in common really. With Lilly I'm catching her up on gossip and fashion, which by the way she approves of my less than pastel wardrobe. And with Wallace it's the pool and video games." Veronica's mood and face visibly lightened at the mention of her friends.

"I can think of something they have in common, without any thought at all really." Logan grinned at the confused look on her face. "It's really quite obvious."

"What?" Veronica pressured, before adding. "And if this is going to be something dirty, you can forget it."

"You."

"Oh. That."

"I like that you just called yourself '_that_'." Logan took a breath before continuing, shaking his a head a little at her choice of word. "Wallace loves you, you're like his sister and believe me, I know." _Only a brother could be that protective when talking to a girl's boyfriend._ "And you know Lilly has always adored you. You're the one person she loves more than herself. They'll get along, you just have to give them a chance."

Rolling her eyes, Veronica brushed off his reasoning, a look of concern coming over her face.

"But what if they don't get along?" Veronica's worry was sweet and endearing, her eyes widening with it so that she seemed almost like a child.

"They have more in common than just you, but you're enough for them to want to get along. Will you stop worrying about it? It's not like they're going to hate each other and force you to choose between them."

* * *

--Piz--

"Does it seem like we don't really belong here?" Parker asked as she slid onto the couch next to him.

He'd been trying to fit himself in for the last couple of days, find a place to hang out. Oddly, with only ten people–eleven counting the baby–there seemed to be quite the development of cliques. There were even a little crossover cliques, depending on the time of day. Sadly, Piz hadn't been able to fit into any of these groups.

Mac, Wallace and Veronica formed a group. They were like the 'Bond Team', all involved in the solving of crimes and sleuthing. Sure Veronica did all the field work, but Wallace and Mac were like her back-up and tech support. That was one group Piz had no way to get into, since he'd botched one of Veronica's jobs back in August. They didn't seem to be working on anything right now, but the mere fact that they did that together made them separate. Plus they were specifically Veronica's friends, she'd laid claim and they were her most loyal. At least that's what he'd thought before this trip.

Mac, Dick, Wallace and Logan formed the 'Gamers', holed up in what had become the game room in this over-sized cabin. _Or was it an under-sized mansion?_ They played game after game, hour after hour. And no matter how many times they promised him a turn, Piz had come to expect that he was never going to get it. Especially if Mac and Wallace were with Veronica. If it was Logan and Dick they just grunted in response, barely tolerating him. If it was just Dick her either just got a slew of insults or ignored completely. He preferred the latter, since Dick's insults were always on his looks or his former relationship with Veronica.

The big group seemed to be Veronica, Logan, Lilly and Duncan, the 'Popular Kids'. He'd never really heard of Duncan before this, just a casual 'my first boyfriend' explanation when they had been recounting past relationships. Lilly seemed to be this amazing creature that floated around the house, barely deigning to look at him, let alone speak to him. Logan followed Veronica and Lilly around like a puppy. The odd thing was, around these people Logan seemed happy and mildly chipper as apposed to his brooding, angry silence. Veronica giggled and smiled and just seemed more open and trusting, like these were the people she trusted. There was no way in hell he was going to get into that group, not when they seemed like such a force.

The last group consisted of him, Parker and that Weevil guy, the 'Outsiders'. Even then, Weevil didn't seem like he was in there group. Weevil could have his own group, 'Scary Loner Guy', while him and Parker kept this clique.

"We don't. We didn't go to Neptune High, we don't know why this Duncan guy is never around. I'm not exactly sure why Lilly was in a coma or why she's so sorry for whatever it was she did to Logan." At Parker's strange look, he continued. "I've heard her say it a couple of time, then he gets that angry face that he gets and he goes off to pout. But we don't know these people, not like we thought we did."

"I talked to Lilly at the hotel that day. But since then, when I've tried to talk to her, it's almost as if the resents me for being here. Logan and Veronica haven't really said much to me and Mac is always off with Wallace or Dick."

"Why is she with Dick?" Piz questioned, that pairing didn't seem right.

"They went to high school together too, and I think they used to be friends with this guy Cassidy, who had pet beaver." Piz turned his head slowly to look at her, his expression clearly questioning her sanity. "They're all rich here, well in Neptune, maybe money _can_ buy you illegal pets. It didn't work for Paris Hilton, but it might work for others. But I kind of get the impression that this Cassidy guy committed suicide or got killed in a car accident with a bus or something."

"I've never heard Wallace or Veronica mention a Cassidy, but it's not like they're the most open people either." _At least not with us._ Piz didn't think that he had to voice the last part, Parker already knew.

"And that Weevil guy? He's kind of scary, like in a quiet and casual kind of way, you know? It's not over the top, '_I'm gonna beat your ass_' kind of scary, just '_I'm here and if you do something I don't particularly like you're gonna find yourself bleeding in a ditch_' kind of way. Like he wears it comfortably, you know? Like it's always been there, naturally." Parker finished her description of the guy Piz had only known as a maintenance guy with a look around, making sure it was still just them and their subject hadn't suddenly popped in for a visit.

"You should have heard what he said to me that first day, that old school Weevil did something with a pole, but the new one has been to prison. I guess he used to be the leader of a biker gang or something, at least that's what I got out of Wallace before Logan came to get him for their little DDR tournament." Piz finished bitterly, still trying to picture Logan playing DDR seriously, but it was impossible. Logan was _way_ too serious for that.

"Yeah, I guess that got a little out of hand and they broke a lamp and the coffee table. Mac said that she thinks the boys had been drinking beforehand, but Wallace swears up and down that she was the drunk one. The both seemed to agree that the judge was more than a little trashed though." Parker's voice didn't seem all that upset when she spoke about the even no one had bothered to invite her to. In fact, it was as though she really did think it was funny.

"Who was the judge?" Just another thing Wallace didn't tell him. He was starting to get a little sick of this, being left out simply because he didn't go to high school with them.

"Veronica. It was her idea, she basically bribed Logan with cookies to get him to agree and bring the game out. Something about Monopoly and pink houses or lipstick, I can't really remember. He was mumbling about it when we were in the kitchen." Parker stretched, her arms reaching over her head as her back arched, showing a strip of bare stomach as she did so. _Why isn't she my type again?_ "Veronica volunteered me to help with dinner, but then switched from lasagna to snickerdoodles when he agreed and I got stuck with the actual dinner."

_That's why, because I apparently go for emotionally unavailable best friends' of my roommate that aren't really all that interested, just on the rebound._

"Yeah, I definitely get the feeling that I don't belong." Piz said, referring back the question she'd asked him when she first sat down.

"Toto, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore. Or Colorado. Or Oregon." Parker joked.

* * *

**A/N:** Just a little Christmas present. Remember the feedback (Christmas time is a time of giving), especially since this is my first try at Piz's POV. 


	8. 7 Bets

**Title: **The Return 7-Bets

**Rating: **PG-13 (for some profanity and mentions of sexual situations)

**Characters/Pairings:** Mac, Dick, Wallace, Parker, Piz, Weevil, Duncan, Logan, Veronica, Lilly the first _(mentions of: Lilly the second) Hints of Mac/Dick_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Also, I'm not going to say who the pairings are right away. I know who they are, and its unlikely I'll change my mind, but I'm trying something new. I'm trying to not make the pairings so obvious from the start.

* * *

The Return  
7  
Bets

--Mac--

"You ever think that one day we're going to wake up and there will be screaming?" Mac questioned as she eyed Dick over the top of her cards. They were seated directly across from each other at the kitchen table, cards laying between them.

"Like, people having sex? We can go take care of that right now if you want, I don't mind." Dick jerked his head to the side, indicated the direction of the stairs, and making a move to lay down his cards.

"Yeah, well… pass. But I meant serious screaming, like fighting. Logan and Veronica are pretty damn good at it, and if that fight she had with Duncan senior year was any indication, he's good at it too. And I _know_ Lilly knows how to scream at people." Mac corrected, reaching forward to tip his cards back up to his face, so she couldn't see them.

"How do you know how Lilly screams? You weren't friends back then." Dick looked at his cards, studying them before trying to sneak a peak at hers. "Do you have an eight?"

"Go fish. And I know because of her _very_ public breakups with Logan in the quad. I mean who could miss them screaming at each other about one of them being a slut and one of them being a bitch or one of them kissing someone else. And do you have a nine?" Mac queried, leaning slightly forward to see his cards, if his eyes lingered over any of them.

"Damn. And they did have some big fights. Why would we wake up to them screaming?" Dick asked, handing over his card while trying to keep the two other cards in his hand from falling.

"Do you have a six and why wouldn't we hear them screaming? They're going to fight at some point, you know they will. The four of them, as good as friends as they were or are, they've always been explosive. Logan and Veronica have only gotten more explosive since the Lilly days, there's going to be a blow-up at some point."

"Shit, do you just know all my cards? Is there a mirror behind me?" Dick made the move to look behind him.

"Just hand me the damn card." Mac rolled her eyes, holding her hand out in order to receive the card in question. "I win."

"I think there will be a hook up before a fight." Dick pointed out as he handed her the last card she needed. Mac laid her remaining card on the table.

"Who's hooking up?" Parker asked as she and Piz walked into the kitchen with Wallace. Weevil followed a moment later, looking more and more uncomfortable as the minutes went by, being stuck here with people he hadn't previously hung out with. Besides Veronica.

"Nobody… yet. But I'm thinking that there's no way we can get out of here without one. Any bets?" Dick threw his remaining cards on the table, leaning back in his chair until it balanced on the back two legs.

Everyone took a look around, looking at each other, waiting for someone else to take Dick up on it.

"What?" Piz and Parker questioned simultaneously.

"Come on. Logan is in a house with the two girl he could never resist. Duncan is back and single and Veronica is here and single and that combination has always led to them hooking back up. Lilly is pretty much guaranteed to hook up with someone. So, any takers?" Dick explained, and Mac fought the urge to place her own bet. That is until Wallace placed one.

"I'm betting on Duncan and Veronica, they didn't get much closure from that fake ass fight they had senior year." Wallace pulled a twenty out of his wallet and slapped it on the table.

"Well, my money is on Logan and Veronica. He may have been Lilly's boy back in the day, but now he's basically Veronica's bitch." Weevil pulled a twenty out of the front pocket of his leather jacket, letting it join Wallace's bill on the table.

"Yeah, well, I'm going with Logan and Lilly. You're first love is super powerful, and they didn't have closure, her being in a coma and all. And on top of that, I'm going with Duncan and Veronica, for the same reasons…" Mac pulled her wallet out of her purse, which had been set next to her during her lively game of _Go Fish_ with Dick. "Is that twenty or forty dollars?"

"Forty. Two bets. And I vote Veronica and Lilly." Dick started to pull a twenty when three people leaned in to smack him upside the head. "What? It's bound to happen. I heard about that kiss during Sophomore homecoming. Eventually they will not be able to resist each other, and fuck, that'll be hot."

Rolling her eyes, Mac turned to look at Piz and Parker at the same time as Wallace did.

"What?" They answer again, jointly.

"We have to stop that." Piz mumbled, scratching at his head.

"Yeah, well maybe if people stopped looking at us like that. I can't make a bet, I don't even know why Duncan and Veronica would hook-up. Or why Lilly and Logan would hook up. If Lilly is Veronica's best friend, why would she hook up with Logan?" Parker looked at Mac before looking at Wallace and then back to Mac.

"Nevermind." Mac replied to Parker's clueless expression. "So how much is that? A hundred?"

"Yeah, and I'll keep this in the meantime." Dick answered counting the bills before moving to put it in his back pocket.

"Hell naw, Mac will hold on to it. I trust her _way _more than you." Wallace reached in plucked the five twenty dollar bills out of Dick's hands and handed them to Mac.

Dick let his chair fall, all four legs now on the floor as he folded his arms across his chest, scowled and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

"Aw, poor baby." Mac said as she tucked the money into her bag.

* * *

--Duncan--

"Do you ever think that maybe one day we'll be forty and still playing video games?" Logan asked, dropping the controller on the pile of game cases.

"Not really, I expect in twenty years I'll be forty and married with Lilly, my daughter Lilly not my sister Lilly, because that would be creepy." Duncan leaned back into the couch to sigh in exasperation, his controller dropping next to Logan's.

"That whole sister-Lilly, daughter-Lilly thing is getting confusing it?" Logan commented, standing up to stretch, his back arching and causing him to wobble a little on his feet.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to start calling one of them by their middle name. Or give them nicknames, like SL or DL. What do you think?"

"That those are the most retarded nicknames ever. And I'm pretty sure _SL_ wouldn't respond to it. You might as well start calling them Tall Lilly and Short Lilly." Logan moved towards the mini-fridge that had been set up in the room. Removing two crystal clear bottles of water, he tossed one to Duncan before twisting off the lid to his own. "And if you start calling your sister by her middle name she's just going to argue that she's been using the name longer."

"And if I switch the baby's name she'll get confused." Duncan pointed out, standing in order to turn the television off manually. _Who knows where the remote is?_

"You know, when we were younger we called Lilly by a nickname." At Duncan's questioning look, Logan continued. "Billy. Remember?"

"Yeah, that was because Veronica was upset you were calling her Ronnie, which was a boy's name." Duncan pointed out, picking up the paper plates that were scattered around the room. "I also remember that you gave Veronica permission to call you Lauren, which I find even funnier now that I know where you got it from. And then you told her to start calling _me_ Donna. Like we all needed opposite gender names."

"So, and you are not allowed to repeat the Lauren thing to her, she'll never let me forget it." Logan looked at Duncan, his eyes pleading for him to promise.

"I promise I won't tell Ronica about you're little mistaken identity mishap." Duncan held up three fingers to make the boy scout honor symbol.

"How long are you staying?" Logan asked suddenly, breaking completely off topic.

"Well, that was quite the segue. I think until the end of next week, then the papers should be final." Duncan answered, still cleaning up the room that had become the home base of the house, where everyone eventually ended up.

"What papers?" Logan asked. Obviously Clarence had told him as little as possible.

"The papers my parents got the Mannings to sign. The ones that absolve me of any kidnapping charges as long as I agree to their terms." Duncan set the pile of used paper plates on a nearby end table, looking at his friend.

"What exactly are these terms?" Logan hedged, obviously a little uncomfortable with the idea that his friend may have to do anything horribly drastic.

"They want visitation rights and to have her on the weekends. I said that it was good, but only for a trial period of a year and with a chaperon. I don't want any of that sitting in a dark room for punishment thing."

"Are those the only terms? These people talk a big game but…" Logan trailed off, looking at Duncan to either confirm or deny this assumption.

"No, I have to go to prison for a year. Evading the law, particularly the FBI, and even though the kidnapping charge will be dropped I still have to serve a little time for that." Duncan looked at Logan in confusion. Somehow he'd assumed Logan knew all this from Clarence. Now he was confused that Logan wasn't very well informed, that Logan hadn't thought to ask that question before.

"You know, that monopoly game is still hidden. I checked." Logan said, glancing around, changing the subject.

"I know, the girls never found it and they probably never will, they're too short." Duncan almost felt the need to get a stool and look at their 'super secret hiding place', but Logan was already there.

Logan stood on a small brown ottoman, stretching slightly up on his toes in order to reach the hidden cupboards above the large bookcases filled with DVDs and video games. They had found the cabinets one summer when a football veered off course and instead of sailing smoothly into Logan's arms it had hit the wall several feet above his head. Logan's insults of him throwing like a girl had been cutoff when a small door popped open.

They had kept it a secret, never mentioning it to the girls, since whatever they put in there was specifically put there to keep away from them. Like Veronica's birthday presents, or Lilly's car keys when she was drunk. Or board games they no longer could stand to play.

As Logan got down, Monopoly game in hand, Veronica and Lilly walked through the door.

"Hey! You said that your parents threw it away." Lilly exclaimed as she pulled the long thin box from Logan's hands. "I thought all those charms were lost forever. They were expensive you know."

"And all that work, and five bottles of nail polish to get those houses painted. I thought I'd wasted my favorite color for nothing. You lied." Veronica accused, popping the lid off and pulling a pink house out. "Wanna play?"

With a groan, Logan and Duncan flopped back onto the couch.

"You just had to take it out, didn't you? You couldn't just let it stay hidden and keep us from ever having to do this again, could you?" Duncan said, crossing his arms and pouting a little as Veronica and Lilly proceeded to set the game up.

"God, you act as if I'm killing you. It's not the end of the world Donut, any way, it's fun." Lilly said reprovingly, obviously still annoyed with the fact that it had been hidden so long ago. "You act as if I'm gonna bash you upside the head with an ashtray."

Everyone stopped to stare at her, their mouths dropping in shock at her poor joke, delivered almost off-handedly.

"Lilly, that's not funny." Veronica was the first to speak, her voice tense and shaky, almost as if she was either holding back tears or trying to keep from yelling.

"I can't believe you'd fucking joke about that. It's not like it was a good experience for any of us, but fuck Lil... have a little tact." Logan's voice was definitely tense from anger.

"God you guys, it was just a joke. It's not like anyone died." Lilly's voice held no humor this time, as she pursed her lips and tilted her head, almost daring the two of them into a confrontation.

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, and now starts the long awaited tension. 


	9. 8 Fight

**Title: **The Return 8-Fight

**Rating: **PG-13 (for some profanity and mentions of sexual situations)

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Veronica, Lilly, Duncan, Wallace_(mentions of: Lilly the second and Dick)_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Also, I'm not going to say who the pairings are right away. I know who they are, and its unlikely I'll change my mind, but I'm trying something new. I'm trying to not make the pairings so obvious from the start.

* * *

The Return  
8  
Fight

--Logan--

_Did she really just say that? Out loud?_ Logan stared at Lilly in angered disbelief. There was no way she was making a joke out of the horror that was the last four years of their lives. _Of course she's able to joke about it, she slept through the worst of it._

"Lilly…" Veronica started meekly, her voice soft and timid, almost cowering in the face of Lilly's near indifference to their troubles.

"Fuck, the three of you are so uptight. Is this what growing up is? Losing your sense of humor and walking on eggshells? What happened to you? You used to be fun." Lilly's voice was callous, and meant to start a fight.

"You were almost killed, that's what happened. You were in a coma the last four years, that's what happened." Logan gritted out through his teeth, his fists were clenched at his sides. He was barely keeping his anger in check.

"Lilly, come on." Veronica's voice was still soft, still meek. His nightmare. Lilly was back and Veronica was suddenly her old self, the weak one who took abuse. The one who let Lilly walk all over her when she was in a mood.

"_Lilly, come on_." Lilly said mockingly, obviously looking for a fight. "I thought the new Veronica wasn't such a whiney baby. I thought the new Veronica broke up with one boy, only to start dating his best friend."

Lilly's words were harsh, and meant to hit their mark. Logan could see by Veronica's flinch that they had.

"I… you… I-I…" Veronica stuttered, speechless at Lilly's callousness over what their situation had been senior year of high school. Logan himself was shocked that Lilly chose that particular barb and that particular person. Usually Lilly left Veronica alone, didn't force fights with her.

"I, I, I… I thought you grew a backbone in the last four years. It only takes four days for you to lose it? Hmmm… Duncan told me all about your little flip-flop your senior year. Then of course, when he was gone you ran straight back to Logan. While I, of all people, can understand Logan's appeal, I can't understand how you can be so… flippant with your relationships."

Logan's mouth dropped open, _Veronica_ flippant with her relationships. Didn't that describe _Lilly_? Logan looked on in disappointment as Veronica seemed almost ashamed. _Where's _my_ Veronica? Why isn't she fighting back?_

Veronica merely nodded, her gaze on the floor as Lilly stood up to continue chastising her.

"What were you thinking dating Logan in the first place? Duncan's best friend? _My_ boyfriend?" Lilly asked, correcting herself as Logan made the motion to do so. "_Ex_-boyfriend, but still. I thought you knew better. Logan and I would have gotten back together eventually, you knew how it was between us. You knew that he was mine."

Logan was shocked at Lilly's words. _She still expects to get back together._ Logan realized, astonished that she could think such a thing. That she would think there was a chance for them after what she'd done.

"Excuse me?" Veronica's voice had gone from weak to steel in a matter of moments. There was something in Lilly's tirade that had set her off. Something that Lilly had said had finally pissed her off and now she was back. Logan felt a sense of relief at the pissed-off look in her eyes. The look that always meant that there would be a showdown, the one that he always knew led up to victory.

"You do _not_ get to tell me who I can and cannot date. You do not get to lay claim to Logan after fucking his father. We've all seen the tapes Lilly. Aaron didn't seduce you or force you, you were there on your own freewill and you didn't seem to mind." Veronica stood, so she was nose to nose with Lilly. Well, as close to nose to nose she could get with anyone. "Sure, you were a little pissed that he had recorded you, but that was about it."

"What are you saying, Veronica Mars?" Lilly asked, the smirk back in her voice, but her face seemed paler. "Go on, say it."

"I don't need to." Veronica dropped the game pieces she had been clutching in her hands.

Logan suddenly feared that this little fight might escalate. Lilly could verbally wound with the best of them, but Veronica had turned pro in the last couple years and had a bit of an unfair advantage over her. Especially if it came down to a physical showdown, not that Veronica usually resorted to violence. Usually.

"Veronica, come on. Lets go for a walk, calm down a bit before things go too far." Logan had very little experience with being the voice of reason, and being the one holding Veronica back didn't sit well with him. She was supposed to be the stable one, not him. But this whole situation with Lilly had thrown her and she couldn't seem to get a grasp on things.

Logan tugged on Veronica's arm, trying to pull her towards the door. It took three tries. The first time she had pulled her arm out of his grip to continue her staring contest with Lilly. The second time she had let his hand stay on her wrist, but had stood her ground, refusing to break eye-contact. The third time she let him lead her away, only to stop and turn at the doorway, one last withering look at their friends before walking out the door with him.

* * *

--Lilly--

"I thought you said you were fine with the whole Logan/Veronica thing." Duncan said, seeming to come out of the passive stupor he'd been throughout the fight.

"I am." Lilly's voice was weaker now, upset that the fight had gone so far. It wasn't meant to be an outright attack on Veronica, just something to push her. She had gotten comfortable, like things were perfect and back to the way they were. Like things were _normal_.

"Then why the sudden tantrum over her and Logan?" Poor Duncan seemed so confused. He had gotten pretty comfortable with the way things were too. It was a shame that she had to upset his world too, he'd been through so much and she really just wanted to let him settle. Believe it or not, she just wanted to protect her baby brother.

"It was more a tantrum over her behavior. To remind her of who she is now, not who she was." Lilly knew Duncan wasn't going to understand. Her brother had a habit of being delusional and ignoring certain facts. Like how much pink and yellow Veronica had been coordinating into her wardrobe and how she had actually let Lilly talk down to her for a while.

Lilly loved the old Veronica, but she had a feeling she'd love the new one too. And everyone was always telling her that life is change, that you can't stop it. Why would she want to got back to how things used to be, when the way things are seemed so much more fun.

Lilly just hoped that Veronica would forgive her for the things she said.

"I've got to go get Lilly up… the other Lilly. She's been down too long, it won't be pleasant tonight, when she won't go to bed because she's not tired. And I don't know when Logan will be back to help with her. He really is pretty good with kids."

"I'd say it's because he's a kid himself, but that's the old Logan, I don't know if the new one is all grown up or not." Lilly was saddened by the fact that she didn't know who the most important people had become. _Score one more for Aaron._

"Yeah, I don't really know the answer to that one either. I haven't seen him in almost two years, he seems to have grown up a bit since then, though." Duncan slipped out the door and up the stairs, leaving Lilly alone to ponder her thoughts.

This was a punishment crueler than if she'd had to sit and listen to Dick talk about surfing and chicks.

* * *

--Wallace--

It taken a few days, but he had finally spotted Lilly Kane alone. She was without her usual bodyguards.

Logan had taken Veronica out to calm down, to get some air and time away from the enclosed spaces she was forced to inhabit with nine other people.

Duncan was upstairs, getting his daughter up from a nap. Parker had followed him up there, cooing over the beautiful little baby. Wallace had a feeling that Parker was flirting with Duncan, but he'd yet to point it out to anyone.

"Lilly Kane." Wallace said, announcing her name as if she was a mythical creature. To him, she kind of was. "It's taken a few days but here we are, alone. Together."

"Wallace, if I'd known you wanted to seduce me, I would have found myself alone sooner." She tried for a sexy pose on the couch, but her pale complexion and the listlessness of her apparently tired body did little to aide her.

"Don't try that with me, I'm impervious to your charms." Wallace said it lightly, but meant it as a warning. He wasn't willing to dally here, risking friendships and his own heart. He'd heard nothing good about falling for the illustrious Lilly Kane, just heartache and sorrow.

"Ouch. It seems my reputation has proceeded me a bit." Lilly let her body relax into the couch visibly as Wallace took a seat next to her. He kept a decent amount of space between them, he didn't know this girl and he didn't want to get or give the wrong impression.

"You were a little harsh on my best friend earlier. Care to explain?" Wallace's voice was harder than he meant it to be, but the anger he'd felt over hearing the earlier fight was still fresh.

"She needed a push. They all did." Lilly said, her voice sounding regretful.

"Then why do you seem so sad about it? If they needed it?"

"Because I may have gone about it the wrong way. I may have pushed a little too hard." Lilly sighed, but continued. "It's the way I've always done things, pushed as hard as I could. But I don't know these people they've turned into. I don't know how far I can push them before they're over the edge and ready to walk out. I don't know _them_."

"Veronica doesn't walk out on her friends. She walks out, but she always comes back and she always _pushes _back. She doesn't hold back often, so when she does it's because she really values the friend. Eventually she forgives, but without a full explanation it's doubtful she'll forget. So you might want to get on that as soon as you get whatever reaction you were looking for." Wallace looked seriously at Lilly, hoping to get his point across.

"Logan on the other hand, you're lucky he didn't take your head off. He doesn't hold back, ever. He lashes out when he feels threatened, I've learned that from Veronica. Usually it's a verbal lashing, because he doesn't hit girls. But there's been a few unlucky recipients of his physical lash outs. Piz included.

"Another reason he'd attack is you were attacking Veronica. He doesn't handle that well, _ever_. He's got this whole white knight thing going on when it comes to her. He can't stand to see her hurt or being hurt, not since…" Wallace trailed off, not wanting to bring up their relationship to the girl who had just had such a fit about it. "He has very little tolerance when it comes to people abusing Veronica. That's something he and I have in common."

Wallace's words were meant as a warning, and by Lilly's nod he could see they were taken as such.

"So, what's your favorite movie?" Wallace questioned, laughing at Lilly's confused look.

"What?"

"I figure we better find something in common, or Veronica is going to have to keep us separate forever. That means half the BFF time, so I figure if we get along, it's one less thing, right?"

"My favorite movie… _Wild Things_." Lilly let her eyebrow arch with the announcement, looking seductive even with her eyes half-closed out of exhaustion.

"Yeah, I figured. Now what's your _real_ favorite movie?" Wallace wasn't falling for the act, he'd heard too much about her to take that at face value.

"_Breakfast at Tiffany's_. Yours?" Lilly looked surprised that he'd called her out, but then again, she was a surprised by a lot of things.

"_Varsity Blues_." Wallace cringed as he said that out loud. It was a small mark of faith, giving this information over to her, nobody knew that embarrassing piece of information besides Veronica.

"I thought you were a basketball player, isn't that a football movie?" Lilly looked amused, like she was trying not to giggle.

"Yeah, well, I like Hoosiers too, but who can resist a movie where the sex ed teacher is a stripper?"

"Good point. Favorite band?"

They sat there, trading information back and forth, getting to know each other and hopefully find something they could build a friendship on. Besides Veronica.

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter was kind of Lilly-centric. Also, I didn't want to make Lilly evil or heartless, like she can so often be written. So, as always, feed the feedback monster. 


	10. 9 Battle

**Title: **The Return 9-Battle

**Rating: **R (for profanity and mentions of sexual situations. I kicked it up from PG-13, because Logan swears... a lot)

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Lilly the first, Wallace, Weevil, Parker, Piz, Dick, Mac_(mentions of: Veronica and Duncan) Hints of MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Also, I'm not going to say who the pairings are right away. I know who they are, and its unlikely I'll change my mind, but I'm trying something new. I'm trying to not make the pairings so obvious from the start.

* * *

The Return  
9  
Battle

--Logan--

Logan walked through the house. Scratch that, he was raging through the house. Everyone was in the kitchen, playing that goddamn Monopoly game and he couldn't fucking find Lilly and Veronica was still upset and Duncan was upstairs with the baby and Dick was clinging to Mac for some reason… and he was pissed.

She made a joke out of it. They struggled through life and friendships and school and just fucking breathing was a chore for four goddamn years and she made a joke out of it. He knew she was never going to understand what they had all been through, how hard it had all been. How for a while there, he didn't think he was going to make it and she laughed at it.

Then she yelled at Veronica for making it all better. Veronica swooped in a fixed him and if it wasn't for her he probably would have drank himself to death, or killed himself, whichever came first. If it weren't for Veronica there would have been more than just the tragedy of her coma, there would've been an actual death. And she had the nerve to yell at Veronica for that.

On top of all that, she felt like she could still claim him. Like he was some piece of property that she owned. _Nope, Logan belongs to Lilly for the rest of his and nobody ever try to date him._ Logan's thoughts whirled angrily in his mind until a voice cut through the haze.

"Hey guys." It was Lilly's voice. She was talking to someone, or at least two someones, but question was who. Logan stopped in the hallway, trying to pinpoint her location. She could either be in the livingroom talking to Mac and Dick or in the kitchen talking to Wallace, Weevil, Parker and Piz.

"Hey Lilly, what ya doin?" That was Parker's voice, clear as a bell.

Logan started toward the kitchen as she started to answer, coming into the room as she finished her sentence. "Just getting a glass of water."

"_What_ exactly in the _hell_ was that all about?!" Logan's voice reverberated in the room, his anger forcing Parker down in her seat and almost literally making Piz start to shake. Wallace looked like he was just rolling his eyes as he sat back in his chair. However, Weevil stood, looking protective as he balled his fists and glared menacingly at Logan.

"Watch it Echolls." Weevil's voice was low and cold, a casual threat.

Lilly just held her hand up to Weevil, signaling him to back off. She didn't even bother to look at him as she made the gesture, clearly telling him that it wasn't his fight or his business. Weevil sat down in his chair almost petulantly, even angrier that he had basically been blown off.

"What was _what _all about?" Lilly's voice was cold and indifferent, much like it had been earlier when she was yelling at Veronica. Like she could no longer be bothered with Logan and his 'temper tantrums' as she'd put it years before.

"That little fit you had earlier. When you basically called Veronica a friendship wrecking slut, what was _that_ all about?" Logan's anger seemed to start all over again at the memory of Lilly's words to Veronica just a couple hours earlier.

"I don't think those were my _exact _words, but they fit I suppose." Lilly said, almost offhandedly as her glance flicked off to her right, in the direction of the table in which everyone was seated.

Logan looked off to his left, trying to let his anger calm, and to do that he needed to not look at Lilly. He saw Piz at the table, looking like his was ready to wet himself. Parker looked pale, and kind of scared. Wallace looked mostly uninterested but still angry at the remarks made about Veronica and Weevil looked pissed, but no longer looked like that was solely focused on Logan. Logan didn't know if it was because Lilly had dismissed him or because she had made such comments about his precious Veronica, but he didn't care. Weevil was pissed at Lilly too.

Logan felt a pang that he was showing this in front of Parker. She had never really seen this side of him, the violent side that he'd never felt the need to unleash while they dated. She had known about his beat down on Piz, had even heard stories told in graphic detail by the many witnesses of the food court. Still, Parker had never actually _seen_ him lose his temper. Not like this.

Logan turned and refocused on Lilly.

"I want some answers, bitch." Logan spit the words out at her, they were reminiscent of the fights of yesteryears. When they would be standing in the middle of the quad or parking lot or hallway or mall or whatever public venue they decided to have it out in. When she would accuse him of some crime and walk away, or he would catch her in a lie and would demand answers. When they pushed each other's buttons and didn't cut too deep for it too last long, not when three days or week later they were back together and having make up sex.

"Oooo… Someone is feeling _pro-tective_." Lilly said it snidely, drawing out the word _protective_ like it was some great word of seduction.

"What is this Lilly? Why are you suddenly so pissed off about this?" Logan's voice was low and dangerous, daring her to say something she knew he didn't want.

"Why am I so pissed off that my best friend went after the one guy I ever really cared about? Why am I so pissed that the guy that was supposed to love me pants after her like a puppy?" Lilly's voice changed into a higher pitched, happier cheerleader-esque tone, sarcastically questioning him. "I wonder Logan. Since when was it Veronica that you wanted?"

"Since she was there for me and you weren't. Since I was twelve and she seemed like such a better option than you, even if I was too dumb to take the better choice over the over-sexed and obvious choice. Since I was seventeen and realized that my slut ex-girlfriend had been banging my dad and I realized that _she_ would never do something like that. Since I realized exactly what _you_ were." Logan sucked in a breath, ending his tirade at Lilly's quick intake of breath and the collective gasp of the other occupants of the room.

That's when he noticed that Mac and Dick were standing in the doorway, watching the fight go down. Mac's eyes were wide, shocked. Dick stood there, mouth agape and eyes like saucers as they darted between him and Lilly.

"Well, if you mean so much to each other… If you mean so much to _her_ then you might want to ask her why it is that she only casually mentioned your relationship. Like it barely happened. You might want to ask her why _Duncan_ was the one that had to explain all the sordid little details of it to me." Lilly leaned over the counter a little, looking directly into his eyes as she spit the words at him like a weapon.

Logan felt like he had been slapped, like she had actually reached across the counter and hit him. Veronica hadn't explained the depth, the level that their relationship had entered. Hadn't explained just how involved they were. _Veronica_ hadn't told Lilly that they had been in love. Just casually dated before senior year of high school.

He knew better than to take Lilly's words as the truth. After all she lied as easily as… well as easily as either he or Veronica did. He knew better. But that still didn't stop his mind from reeling at the possible fact that Veronica had led Lilly to believe that they were just a casual summer fling.

Logan knew better, but that didn't stop him from turning and fleeing from the kitchen.

* * *

--Lilly--

She wished she could take it back. The things she said to Logan were a little harsher than what she had wanted to get. But then again, he had gotten a lot harsher than she had anticipated, not like in the old days when he wouldn't dare to say such things to her.

Still, she wanted to take it all back. The fight she'd forced earlier had only gotten her in more trouble than she had bargained for. She had done it to snap everybody out of the comfortable little exactly-how-it-used-to-be world they had settled into and now everyone thought she still loved Logan.

And beyond that she thinks she might have just gotten Veronica in trouble with her little lie.

Of course Veronica had explained their relationship to her, Lilly had basically begged for the details at her first mention of it. Veronica had explained how they had been enemies and then started secretly dating, then she accused him of her rape and Lilly's assault. Then they had openly dated until she was forced into breaking up with him because of his little gang war with the PCHers. After that had been the fiasco of senior year and her relationship with Duncan that even Lilly scolded her for. Veronica had explained how they had gotten back together after graduation and the tragedy that surrounded it. Explained how that summer after high school they had taken their relationship to the next level until he had broken up with her. Cried about how she was unable to tell him she loved him and how he had slept with Madison Sinclair during their separation.

Of course Veronica had explained it all.

And of course Lilly had lied to Logan about that. Right after she basically announced that she still loved him and only him and she expected the same from him even after all the crimes she committed against him.

Lilly looked up from the spot on the counter she had been so busy studying to see six pairs of eyes trained on her.

"What?" Lilly snapped out, annoyed that she was being stared at. Especially when all she wanted now was to be left alone.

Dick shook his head and left the room, that girl Mac following after him. Lilly had no idea if they were dating or what, but they were basically attached at the hip. So much so that Lilly hadn't had any time to talk to her. Veronica said that she was good at computers, the Q to her Bond, but anymore than that was information Veronica wasn't willing to share.

The other four at the table went back to concentrating on the game. Well, three of the four. Weevil continued to stare angrily at her, the look in his eyes revealed a feeling of betrayal.

"_Why am I so pissed off that my best friend went after the one guy I ever really cared about?"_ The words replayed in her head viciously. She had almost forgotten that Weevil was there during the fight, and certainly hadn't cared when she'd flung the words at Logan. _Of course I hadn't cared, isn't that the crime Veronica accused me of that first night?_

Lilly suddenly felt sick to her stomach. This was spinning wildly out of control. Her simple little push had snowballed into something much more complicated than she had originally anticipated. She had thought they would all revert back to their real personalities and those of their fifteen year old selves. She was wrong, the hurt went much too deep for them to be themselves and let her past slide. The people her Veronica and her Logan had become were much stronger and had much more self-respect to do that. They couldn't let her go without calling her out on the things she'd done to them.

Now she had been called a slut by Veronica _and_ Logan. She'd thought this day would never come, when they wouldn't hold back and say what they really thought of her. Of course these were words spoken in anger and even she knew that they probably didn't mean it. They seemed like the people to throw out the hurtful words to win the fight, but regret it later. Not to mention that Veronica had never actually called her a slut, just implied it.

Lilly walked around the kitchen island, fleeing the kitchen and the stares and glares she was getting from the four people at the table. She didn't get any further than the hallway, leaning against a wall and letting her face drop into her hands.

"What is it about the rich boy that keeps you going back? Is it that he's in your _class_? Or just that he's an ass that treats you like crap?" Weevil's voice was bitter, and close.

Lilly lifted her head only to find herself less than six inches from her ex-lover. She blinked a few times, trying to will the tears away.

"What?" It was a question she found herself repeating constantly, always in a state of confusion. There wasn't much she understood nowadays, these people confused the hell out of her and she wasn't catching up as quickly as she'd hoped.

"I mean, I don't get it. You obviously were tired of him, could barely stand him anymore in high school. But you still went back to him every time he snapped his fingers. Even now, when he so obviously doesn't want you, you still want him." Weevil's voice held more than just the bitterness she had detected earlier. There was something akin to defeat in the tone, something she'd never heard from him before. He shook his head a little before continuing. "He defends Veronica against you repeatedly and you still want him. He goes to her and still… He actually looked _heartbroken_ over what you said about her and you still think the two of you will get back together. Why?"

* * *

--Weevil--

He was letting too much show. He was letting her in, he could see that in her eyes. She found a way into him and she knew it.

"I don't want him." The words were barely a whisper, spoken like a secret to him. Spoken so no one else could hear.

"You say that now, but when he snaps his fingers you'll be right there, hanging on his arm." Weevil looked into her eyes, a mistake. He'd always been weak with her, letting her make him think, make him _believe_, he had a shot. It was always her eyes that convinced him, they were sweet and still held an innocent naiveté that she was so convinced she didn't have. She hadn't seen reality in high school, not the way he had, no matter how much she thought she had.

Lilly had always insisted she knew how the world worked, and she did to a point. But the fact still remained that she was a rich girl and the world was a much better place to her kind. She didn't have to deal with poverty or drugs or violence. She heard about poverty on the news and thought it was sad, but she didn't have to live with it. The only drugs she ever came into contact with were the fun recreational kind that she and her friends bought during their little trips to Mexico where they stayed in the nicest hotels. She never experienced true violence, never had to watch one of her mom's boyfriends beat up on her mom, or her. She had gotten a cold dose of reality for a split second before the ashtray had actually crushed into her skull. After that she had slept through four years and didn't have to deal with the outcome, until now.

Lilly wasn't as worldly as she liked to think she was.

"Of course, if you're waiting for him to snap his fingers for you, you'll be waiting a long time by the looks of it. And I am _not_ something to pass the time." Weevil's eyes went cold and hard with his last sentence, pushing the point further. He shrugged off the small hand that was set upon his forearm.

"Weevil, that wasn't ever what you were to me. You meant more than that, you know that." Lilly's voice was pleading.

"I get that you're lonely Lilly, you've been rejected and you've never been good with that. But I'm not something you used to curb the loneliness with and then discard when you're done. Things aren't the way they were in high school Lilly, if you haven't noticed." Weevil brushed off her attempts to grab onto him, to keep him there with her. He turned and continued down the hall, up the stairs and up to his room. He doubted she even knew what room he was in, she hadn't even bothered to venture up to the third floor, where all the apparently minor players in this little soap opera were sleeping.

* * *

**A/N:** Another more Lilly-centric chapter. And there are more fights to come. But as always... feedback is love. 


	11. 10 Retreat

**Title: **The Return 10-Retreat

**Rating: **R (for profanity and mentions of sexual situations.)

**Characters/Pairings:** Dick, Mac, Duncan, Lilly the first, Logan, Veronica, Piz _(mentions of: Lilly the second, Parker, Wallace, Weevil) MaDi and hints of LoVe_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** First pairing: MaDi. So this chapter is a bit of fluff mixed in with the angst. Happy New Year to everyone. I'm sick, so my rockin New Years Eve consisted of about 45minutes at the bar and then 10after midnight asking B to take me home. I've almost lost my voice completely, my friend Jesse says I'm alternating between sounding like Mickey Mouse and Kermit the frog (SCORE!). So that sucks for me, but I got a chapter posted.

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

* * *

The Return  
10  
Retreat

--Dick--

"So, I guess that we won't be waking up to a fight since they all seem to be going down today, huh?" Dick asked Mac as they re-entered the living room.

"Looks like it." Mac replied as her head whipped around at the sound of Weevil's voice in the hallway.

"Now _they're _going to fight? Seriously? Maybe we should have taken bets on the fights instead of the hookups." Dick was a little amazed at how this was all playing out. He had honestly thought that there would be a hookup first. Then they would have something to fight about.

_Why am I _always_ wrong?_

"Yeah, you thought there would be a hookup first. Looks like you were wrong." Mac pointed out as she basically fell onto the couch, Dick sitting down beside her before he laid down, putting his head on her lap.

"We were both wrong babe. After that fight they had this morning, I don't think Lilly and Veronica will be hooking up anytime soon. And after that scene in the kitchen there's no way Logan and Lilly will be either." Dick pointed out, looking up into her face. She just smiled.

"I don't think there was ever really a chance at a Lilly/Veronica hookup Dick. And I may have been wrong about Lilly and Logan, but I've still got a shot with Veronica and Duncan." Mac glanced away for a moment before her gaze returned to his face. "And you weren't entirely wrong. We hooked up before any of the fighting started, so there was a hookup before a fight."

Dick grinned, this was true. They'd only been here one night before he'd finally made the move he'd been chickening out on since July. No one could blame him though, he'd been kind of mean to her in high school and downright cruel to her after Beaver. Add that on top of the rejection she'd dished out in May and the messy breakup she'd had in June and making the first move with her was damn scary.

They'd been forced together over the summer. Not completely forced, but with the way things worked out, they'd only had each other. Mac's friends had pretty much all abandoned her. Veronica was in Virginia, being a good little intern for her beloved FBI. Wallace was in Africa, saving the world. Parker was with her parents in Colorado, hating life. And Piz, even though he was her best friend's boyfriend was little more than an acquaintance, was in New York. Everyone had had their summer plans nailed down by the time Mac had even started thinking about hers.

Then there had been the breakup with Max. He'd finally given up the ghost and told her that he wasn't even going to attempt another year of college, even though she'd begged him to consider it. They'd fought about the fact that selling term papers was _not_ something you did for a living. It was something you did until you were a senior and then passed down the knowledge to some dumb freshman for a slice of his prophets. He'd been the one dumping her, telling her that she had no vision or some shit like that.

Dick had been alone. Logan had gone on some surfing trip somewhere, with Dick stuck home spending 'quality time' with his prison-bound father. Then he was visiting his sister, who he referred to as the whore, so Dick imagined he wasn't doing very much visiting with her. After he'd spent a good month with Trina Logan had basically disappeared for two weeks, re-emerging in Virginia where he'd spontaneously dropped by to see Veronica… for almost two weeks. He was barely home before classes started again.

Dick and Mac had run into each other at Cho's Pizza, twice. After the second time they made plans to go to a party, where Dick promised not to force Mac into doing anything and Mac promised the same, even though neither of them were really worried about that. After the party, where they'd spent a good amount of time hiding out in a spare bedroom talking of all things, Dick promised to teach her to surf. Turns out, not all California girls are beach bunnies and they _definitely _can't all surf. Mac, in fact, sucked at it.

By August Dick was pretty much in love with her and Mac was, on the whole, unaware of _that _little development. It wasn't until mid to end of September that she realized exactly where he was at, and that she was there too. They danced around the subject for a good two weeks before Dick suggested that she accompany them on the trip, only to find out that Logan had given Veronica the go ahead to invite her. Dick had to remember that Logan and Veronica were completely oblivious to their friendship, let alone their budding relationship.

That's the way it was though. Logan and Veronica were completely unaware of any romantic entanglements unless it was their own.

"Hey!" Mac semi-shouted, trying to get his attention. "Where were you?"

Dick pulled himself out of his thoughts, focusing on the face hovering above him.

"La-La land, obviously." Dick's hand snaked up to hook behind Mac's head, pulling it down until it was a few inches from his own. "Join me?"

Mac's lips crashed down into his, further ensuring her extended stay in this incredibly uncomfortable position. Before too long Dick had enough of the awkward angle and sat up, remarkably without breaking lip contact.

They sat upright for only a few moments before he leaned back to lay into the cushions, pulling her with him. A few minutes later, Mac pulled away for air.

"We're missing monopoly and gossip." She pointed out, the sound of their three friends drifting in from the kitchen.

"We already know all the gossip. Logan and Lilly's story, we witnessed it. The whole sordid thing, you really want to hear what the newbies have to say about it?" Dick asked. "And I hate Monopoly, and I refuse to be a tube of lipstick or a tiara. Where do you even get that version of the game?"

"I don't think that you can buy it, I think it was personally customized. Because those houses and hotels, not originally those colors. There a few where the paint is chipping away to show that they were once red and green." Mac told him, making the move to sit up.

"So, jokes aside, what do think is really gonna happen? How do you think this weekend is going to end?" She asked, her eyes bright and questioning as she turned to him again.

"I think, if it doesn't end with at least one murder, there will be a couple broken hearts." Dick admitted, not surprised when Mac didn't show shock at his perceptiveness. She had apparently grown accustomed to his random insightfulness… if only he could say the same.

"Hey, do you remember this summer?" Dick asked, catching Mac's eye roll at the randomly vague question.

"A little, my memory is kind of fuzzy though, it wasn't that memorable." Dick caught the sarcasm in her voice. And chose to ignore it.

"I meant when I tried to teach you to surf and you totally sucked at it?" Dick avoided the light slap she sent his way.

"I didn't suck at it, I just didn't excel at it as quickly as you wanted me to. So you gave up on me." Mac refused to admit that she wasn't good at something, Dick thought it was cute. Still, she had to admit it sometime… that was the first step, right?

"Anyway, I was thinking that maybe we could try again." Dick tried to keep the smile off his face.

"Is this you saying you want to what? Go mattress surfing?" Mac's eyebrow was raised in suspicion, already knowing what he was getting at and ready to turn him down.

He just grinned.

* * *

--Duncan--

_Why is Lilly on the steps, just sitting there?_ Duncan wondered as he walked softly down the stairs, careful with his steps when he had his daughter in his arms. He was looking for Parker, since she had offered to feed Lilly and take care of her for awhile, giving Duncan a break. Logan usually snapped his little girl right up, eager to babysit. That was an anomaly he hadn't fully worked out yet, but he had to admit that Logan was excellent with her. Could charm her into doing just about anything. Including laying down for a nap without a fuss. But since Logan had taken Veronica out to calm down he had figured that wasn't an option, that he'd have his hands full with a different blonde.

"Lilly? What are you doing?" Duncan asked, shifting the baby on his hip while squirmed.

"Sitting. Thinking." She looked startled, like she really hadn't known that he was behind her. When they were little she used to pretend she didn't hear him sneak up behind her then act scared when he yelled 'boo'.

"About what?" He was confused. She looked so sad now, earlier she had been so bright. After the fight with Veronica she had been so sure that Veronica would forgive her. So sure things would work out, they'd been through too much for them not to. Now she looked like she had given up. _What happened while I was upstairs? I was only up there twenty minutes._

"The way things are, how they got like this. If I hadn't slept with Aaron then I wouldn't have been in that coma. And without the coma none of you would have turned out like this, those things never would have happened." Lilly sighed and Duncan released his Lilly to toddle off and play with the toys that were scattered across the foyer and trickled into every room in the house.

"If none of those things happened Veronica wouldn't be like she is, she'd still be all sweet and innocent. All forgiving and the girl that wore her heart on her sleeve, like it was some sort of badge or something." Lilly took another deep breath, still avoiding Duncan's eye line. "She would have told Logan she loved him and what I said wouldn't have hurt. In fact, if none of it had ever happened I wouldn't have ever had need to say, or even thought it."

"Lilly… you didn't."

"I did. I didn't mean to, but I did." Lilly looked at him now, eyes full of regret. "I told him that Veronica barely mentioned him, said that they were a fling. And I know that he knows that that isn't true, I know he does. He's too smart to _not_ know that, but he thinks that its true. No matter what he knows deep down, the surface stuff still says that its wrong and I'm right."

"You know, it's true." Duncan started, taking his sisters hand in his, holding her attention and keeping her there at the same time. One thing Lilly and Veronica had always had in common, whether they knew it or not, they both ran when things got too heavy. When things got too much for them to deal with they both walked out until they were ready to deal with it.

"If none of that stuff ever happened we wouldn't be the way we are now. We'd be completely different people. Veronica would still have her mother, and her mother would still be having an affair with dad. I'm not saying that you're at fault for that, but when you-well after you it kind of got forced into a do or die situation. The whole thing was brought to a head and Veronica and Keith learned about it and mom dealt with it and it wasn't this big secret waiting to explode. Veronica would still be sweet and innocent and naïve. That wouldn't have ever lasted, she wouldn't have survived in the world like that. Something was eventually going to pop that perfect little bubble she was in.

"I would still be in love with her and hating myself for it because I thought she was my sister. I wouldn't have been able to move past that, it would have haunted me. Logan's mom might or might not still be alive, since I don't think her suicide was a _direct_ result like everything else. But I do know that Logan would still be under his dad's thumb. He'd still be undergoing the daily talk-downs, being told how useless and what a screw-up he is. He'd still be getting whipped with belts and backhanded and punched and slapped and thrown into walls and who know what else Aaron did to him. He might be dead by now, beaten to death by his own father. Because Aaron might have stopped when he hit you once, but I doubt he would've stopped there with Logan."

Lilly had tears in her eyes when he finally looked at her. She was biting her lip, and looked only marginally comforted by his words. He felt so protective of her now. He'd always felt like he had to watch out for her, make sure she didn't do something _too_ stupid. He'd failed at that. She'd gone off and fucked Aaron Echolls and gotten herself knocked into a coma for four years. But now that she was out of it, he was going to make sure something like that never happened again.

"Good things still happened, Lilly. I loved Meg, and I have Lilly. I wouldn't recommend teen pregnancy and single-fatherhood, but I wouldn't ever wish her away. She's still the best thing in my life, the biggest and most important part of it. Logan might have lost you, but he never really had you in the first place. He shared you, borrowed you for a time, but you never really gave yourself to him like he wanted. Veronica might have lost everything, but she's gained a new everything and she cherishes it even more. She loves what she does, and that naïve and trusting girl could never be what she is."

"I know, but I still miss who everyone was. I like who you are all now, but I miss what was. It wasn't as long ago for me as it was for you." Lilly slid of the step to stand next him, staring straight ahead at some spot on the wall. "Its hard, and I don't like it when things are hard. You know how I like things to just happen for me, working for them is never any fun."

Lilly attempted a watery smile at Duncan as he came to a standing position next to her. He wiped away her tears and wrapped a hand around her shoulders as she laid her head on his.

"How bad did it get with Logan?" Duncan asked, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Pretty bad." She whispered in reply.

"It'll work out, right? Isn't that what you're always saying?" Duncan released her shoulder and bent forward to catch his daughter, swooping her up in his arms.

"I hope so, because I can't actually believe I did this. After everything they forgave me for, I go and do this. How unfair is that?" Lilly asked rhetorically, turning and walking up two steps before she turned back around to him. "It's been a really long day, you don't mind if I skip Monopoly and head upstairs to bed do you?"

"No, I think I might skip the game too. I'm just going to get Lilly her dinner and head back upstairs for her bath and some playtime." Duncan was amazed at how old he sounded. Giving his daughter a bath and scheduling a little day-end playtime. Maybe he'd even read her a story or two.

Duncan turned from the stairs to the kitchen as soon as Lilly's feet disappeared from the last step.

* * *

--Logan--

He'd been lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling for a couple hours now. It must have been. Ever since his screaming match with Lilly in the kitchen, and that had been around three this afternoon.

Logan lifted his head to glance at the clock on his bedside table. It was eight. _Great, four hours staring at the ceiling. Pouting._

He'd heard voices on the stairs about an hour or so ago, one sounding vaguely like Lilly. He hadn't been able to make out what they were saying, but he knew she had been talking to Duncan. He'd walked past Logan's open door with little Lilly a few moments before.

Logan had a particularly good vantage point, the bedroom at the top of the stairs. He saw everyone who went up or down them. He knew when people got up in the middle of the night, because they were seldom that quiet, no matter how much they tried. He knew that every night Mac went upstairs at the same time as Dick and much sooner than Parker. He knew that Parker was the first one up in the morning, because she basically skipped down the stairs and almost always bumped into his bedroom door because of it. Piz was the last on up, besides himself, and he that was because once Piz got down one flight of stairs he groaned in the daunting face of another.

So when Lilly came up fifteen minutes after the voices on the stairs ended and head to bed at seven-thirty, he knew. But he didn't hear her door open or close.

He also knew for a fact that Veronica was still in her bedroom, where he'd taken her after their walk. She'd been in there since two, since after their walk.

_Flashback_ --Veronica-- _Flashback_

"I can't believe this. I can't believe her!" Veronica raged, stomping down the path with a vengeance. Logan walked two feet behind her, probably a little afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. She'd already felt a rock ricochet off her boot and go flying off to her right. And Logan almost always walked on her right.

She was pissed. There was no reason for the stunt Lilly had just pulled. Joking like that. Like there was anything to fucking joke about. Like she had any right to do that. To _say_ anything.

And just like that Veronica's anger faded away into something else. Lilly's words replayed over in her head. Flippant? Veronica hadn't thought of herself as a flippant at the time. She'd thought she was getting on with her life after Logan had refused to give up his vendetta for her. She'd told him she couldn't stay with him while he was plotting revenge. Instead of agreeing to stop he freaked and broke a lamp and got kicked out of the house. They'd broken up and Duncan had always been there, patiently waiting and steady and in control. They'd never really had closure, and they'd never fully gotten past everything.

She had thought she was closing chapters and starting new ones, learning how to go on. She hadn't thought she was _flippant_.

_Does Logan think I was flippant? Does Duncan?_ The thoughts ran through her head at terrifying speed. The mere thought of them thinking she'd been so dismissive, that they'd meant so little to her that she could flip-flop from one to the other so easily.

"Does she really… is that what she really thinks of me?" Veronica was a little surprised at the hurt in her voice. She hadn't realized that the emotion was so strong that it'd be so obvious.

"No one would ever think that about you Veronica." Logan said softly, his voice a comfort all its own. She was glad that he was the one out here calming her down. In the years since Lilly there'd only been two people other than her father that could ever really talk her down. Logan and Wallace. And while Wallace did a good job, Logan did it better and faster. It was something about his voice, it just made her heart slow and her mind stop, her anger fade. Unless she was all riled up because of him, then the only person that could calm her down was her father. Sometimes he could piss off and talk her down on his own, that was his specialty.

"But she said it. And I know Lilly doesn't mean everything she says, but she sounded like she meant this one." Veronica's voice was starting to sound despondent, and she felt like she was losing Lilly all over again. Instead of a coma this time, she lost her best friend, the one who was loyal no matter what. The one who inspired her to risk her life for in order to find out who nearly killed her.

"She didn't, couldn't have. She doesn't know you well enough to make any kind of judgment call. Besides, who is she to call you flippant, to judge you? Lilly flips back and forth between lovers like a… a… well, whatever flips back and forth a lot." Logan's words were mean to comfort and soothe, but he stumbled over the last bit. She almost felt like laughing at his stumble.

"I _did _almost ruin your friendship with Duncan, and I know how important that always was to you. Just so you know, I hated it. I hated that you weren't friends then, and even now it kills me that I was the cause." Veronica stopped abruptly to turn and look at Logan, who nearly stumbled into her.

"I wasn't _all _you. Mostly it was you, and I'd make the same decision if I had to. But some of it was over the fact that he abandoned me after we all found out what my father did. When I was arrested and accused of murder, he wasn't there. I know he was upset over the thing with my dad, but I'm not him and I never was."

_Or will be_. Veronica tacked the three words on in her head. She briefly wondered if he thought the same, but quickly thought better of it, he would never see it that way.

Veronica reached down and grasped his hand as they started to walk again, this time side by side. It was supposed to be something to comfort him and her, but after the moment of comfort ended she failed to let go. So they walked, hands holding at the fingertips.

They walked for a little over an hour, it was almost two by time they had looped around and were almost back to the house. And they were still holding hands, but now they clung with more than fingertips. Now they had their palms pressed to each other and their fingers intertwined.

"I think the part that shocked me most was when she told me you were still hers. Like no one was ever supposed to date you again, because you belonged to her and until she didn't want you anymore you had to remain single and miserable." Veronica had been debating whether or not that was the best approach.

She hadn't wanted to bring it up earlier, afraid that he'd get angry all over again. She'd just calmed down and wanted to stay that way for a while, but she couldn't forever. Not even if she was in some pink getup that she'd somehow ended up wearing today, with the word 'cutie' emblazoned across the back of the zip-up hoodie. _What the hell? When did I even get this?_

"Yeah, that shocked me too." Was all Logan said, though gritted teeth. She could tell.

He was pissed.

_End Flashback_

"So you going to stay in here forever? Or you going to join everyone else in a lively game of Monopoly?" Piz asked from just inside Logan's doorway.

Logan raised an eyebrow, a little shocked that Piz had been brave enough to enter his room without knocking or asking permission. Piz had mostly steered clear of him during this trip. Logan didn't know if he was still reeling from that fight last year or if there was some other thing that kept him away. Either way, Logan wasn't complaining.

Ever since last May he'd had nightmares about that internet video that he'd had the unfortunate privilege to watch. He'd seen Veronica and Piz together in so many positions he'd literally woken in a cold sweat some nights. Logan thought that this must have been what Veronica was talking about when she found out about him and Madison. But she hadn't gotten the visual, at least he hoped she didn't. Madison was a sneaky bitch, after all. That could have been her end game.

"Yo, Logan?" Piz was constantly trying to cool himself up, make his vernacular more witty for his radio show. Just one more fun little quirk he'd picked up in New York, during his internship.

"I don't think so, but you guys can play." Logan sat up, looking at Piz. "Tell you what, you can be my designated piece. I was always the lipstick."

"So you're going to stay in here and mope all night? Or the rest of the trip?" Piz asked, and Logan was a little amazed at his ballsy move. He even sounded kind of annoyed.

"No, I just…" Logan trailed off, his own voice sounded whiney.

"You know, she was wrong." Piz seemed to let the information just slip out, and if they'd been in the _Little Rascals_ he'd have slapped both hands over his mouth as his eyes got really wide.

Logan looked at him in confusion, completely unsure of what Piz was talking about.

"Huh?"

"Lilly. She was wrong." Piz held a hand up, stopping Logan from commenting. Like he'd already known that Logan was going to tell him that he didn't know Lilly like they did. "Veronica never spoke like you were a fling. In fact, she didn't talk about you at all. And in my experience, it's the one that means a lot that you don't really talk about."

Logan's eyebrows shot up in shock at Piz's insight. Piz had always seemed like such an air-head, that didn't really read beyond the surface. He hadn't thought that Piz really paid attention to all the details of their group, that he didn't see everything that went on. But then again, there was an advantage to being an outsider, an almost completely unbiased observer.

"Really?" Logan let his skepticism slip into his voice, not wanting to reveal to Piz what a valuable piece of information that was.

"Yeah, and I know what that means. I dated Veronica once too, I know how she ranks the people in her life. And I know where we both fall on that ranking list." Piz conceded.

"Why are you telling me this?" Logan really was skeptical now, worried about where Piz was going with this. He expected that any moment now he'd tell Logan that they were back together.

"No plan. I'm just pulling out. Admitting defeat in the face of my enemy, while keeping some dignity. Taking myself out of the list of possibilities for Veronica Mars. If I ever even was one to begin with." Piz finished, somewhat sadly, and turned and left the room.

Logan heard Piz do that casual hop and fall down the stairs. The way he did every morning, right before Logan dragged his own butt out of bed.

He was a little stunned by Piz's surrender, hadn't seen it coming. Although he had to admit, it was a little presumptuous of him, basically giving Logan permission to be with Veronica. Then again, he was still kind of new to their world and how things worked, the politics of it all. Who had seniority and who didn't. Who needed permission and who didn't.

No wonder Piz hadn't lasted long. It was hard to teach that much history to one person. Hard and pointless.

_Then why bother with someone who doesn't already know._ The thought passed quickly through Logan's head, almost like a completely separate voice. Anyone else would just be out for show. _Blowing the son of a movie star, an action hero, a murderer in his car at the beach. How cool._

There weren't many people in the world who knew the real him. In fact, the only three people in existence were in this house right now. That meant he had a choice between Veronica and Lilly, but honestly it wasn't much of a choice. His mind was already made up, he knew who would choose before he even asked himself the question.

Veronica was his do or die chick.

* * *

**A/N:** So my first actual attempt at MaDi. Feedback is love. 


	12. 11 Push

**Title: **The Return 11-Push

**Rating: **R (for profanity and mentions of sexual situations.)

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Veronica, Piz, Weevil _(mentions of: Parker, Duncan, Lilly the first, Lilly the second, Wallace, Mac, Dick) hints of LoVe_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** So I noticed that my story was the first to be updated in the new year, how cool is that? It's because I'm sick, but whatever. I'm still sick by the way, so I've been working on this chapter a lot throughout the day.

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

* * *

The Return  
11  
Push

--Weevil--

He'd snuck past Logan's door, and his nosiness, to while Pick was blocking the door. _Piz_. He'd been corrected several times now, the last time by _Piz_ himself. The kid had looked like he was going to wet himself when Weevil had just turned and looked at him. Parker didn't seem too scared of him, just wary, but Piz acted as if he was suddenly going to turn around and start beating him for no good reason.

Mission accomplished, he supposed. Unfortunately Weevil had still been forced to spend the majority of his time with Piz and Parker. He had no idea why he had come on this trip, not a clue why he let Veronica talk him into this. Talk him into coming and working out all his issues, like this was some therapists weekend. Group therapy with people that had either screwed him over or the ones he screwed over. Or the people he didn't even know.

He had thought he'd get to hang out with Veronica a little, something they didn't really do back home. Not unless she needed something. And they weren't the best of friends, but she was still a friend. He didn't have many of those left, now that high school was over and he was no longer a part of the gang that they all were. He hadn't really had _any_ friends since Thumper power-played him right out of them all.

Weevil turned the doorknob and popped open the door to Veronica's room without knocking. _Who cares if she's decent or not. Bonus for me._

Veronica looked up from her place on her bed, surrounded by papers and books. She had been staring at the laptop that was perched on her lap.

"I should've known, a vacation is not really a vacation for you." He commented as he moved away from the door and closer to her and the bed.

"It is a vacation, but that doesn't mean that everything at home stops completely. I've finished my Prophiling paper," she pointed to a rather large pile of books and papers with a disc sitting atop, the word 'Prophiling' and the date printed clearly. "My lit assignment." She gestured to another pile. "And now I'm working on several different… projects, so if you'll excuse me."

Veronica turned back to her computer and her hands reached for the keyboard. "And another thing, you don't knock before you enter a room? God, I could have been…" she paused, working up a good head of steam. "I could have been fucking naked and you just burst in here like you're completely allowed, like… like…" she stammered off at the end, giving him opportunity to jump in.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're really pissed. How dare I and all that bull shit. You gonna sit up here all day?" Weevil asked, cutting directly to why he had come in here. He was getting more and more nervous being alone in her bedroom with her, like Sheriff Mars might jump out of the closet or slide out from under the bed.

All Veronica's indignation from moments earlier had completely evaporated, proving that she wasn't really mad. She probably thought that if he had walked in on her naked he would have apologized profusely and shut his eyes before turning around and leaving the room. _And she thinks she knows everything._

"I haven't been—" Weevil watched her glance at her watch, a smirk on his face. She obviously had no idea how long she'd been up here. "Oh my god, I've been up here since two. I've been in my bedroom for almost six hours!"

Weevil grinned a little as she catapulted off the bed, knocking all her books and papers down in the process. She frantically started gathering items and separating them again.

"So, we're gonna play Monopoly. We would have started it forty-five minutes ago but Duncan brought the baby down for dinner and distracted Parker. But we're going to start in about ten minutes if you want to play." Weevil asked like he'd been directed to. Wallace had given him specific instructions: _Go up and ask if V wants to play. Give her another ten minutes, that way she can do whatever it is that girls always seem to have to do before they do anything_. Weevil chose not to repeat those _exact_ words to her though, he valued his life and if it came down to it he'd roll over on Wallace in a heartbeat, and it turned out he wasn't such a bad guy.

Veronica slowed her frantic piling and sorting, looking like she was thinking it over. But she stopped and shook her head.

"No, I think I'll stay up here for the rest of the night. I have to start a book for a class and finish some of this stuff and it'll just be easier to get this all done now." She scooped everything back up into one pile, making her previous activity pointless, and dropped it all on the top of the nearest dresser.

"I don't remember seeing you carry that in." Weevil said aloud, not meaning to. It looked like an awful lot of school junk.

"I didn't. Wallace went down and got it out of Mac's car while we had Logan distracted." Weevil raised an eyebrow at that. _Snuck it in?_

"Logan forbade any of us from bringing school work on vacation. I worked it out with all my professors when we decided on the trip. The only excuse for being absent and still being allowed to turn in your work without any kind of grade reduction penalty is hospitalization and bereavement. So I made fake death certificates for everyone, so they could claim they were to attend an out of town funeral and would have to skip class. Everyone worked out their assignments prior to leaving. Everyone has at least two assignments due, if not more, during this little vacation. Dick and Logan have opted for hospitalization, but I've already got their doctor's notes and everything all forged and stuff, just forgot them at home." Veronica explained, shoving her books into the backpack that looked too small to hold it all.

"Yeah, but what's that have to do with sneaking your books in?" Weevil asked, jutting his head forward in a motion meant to urge her on.

"Well, Logan didn't believe that Mac, Wallace and I could leave our homework behind. Which is true since Mac and I have each have papers due the day after we get back. And Wallace _and _Piz both have to rush in and turn their papers in the day we get back. But Logan didn't know _that_, so before we left he did a search of everyone's cars. He started with Mac's and as soon as he moved onto Wallace's car Mac and I started shoving book bags into the back. We had to move most of the luggage in Mac's car into Wallace's and a couple things into Logan's, but we got all six of them in." Veronica finished, looking a little proud of herself. "Even Dick brought his."

"How did Logan miss this game of musical luggage?" Weevil was actually curious how rich boy missed it, he didn't think Logan was _that_ dense… or blind.

"I purposely made sure his cell phone got left up in his room, he had to run up and get it." Veronica said, picking up the bag that was obviously too heavy for her and taking it to her closet, where she tucked it into a dark corner.

"Logan almost made us leave our laptops, he's so freaking paranoid." Veronica said, coming out of her closet and wiping her hands on her jeans.

_Can't imagine why._

"You sure you don't want to play?" Weevil asked again, turning to leave.

"No, I don't want to play. But if a poker game starts up…"

"I'll run up here as fast as I can and make sure you're locked in your room. I'd like to keep my money for once." Weevil responded stepping out of the door. Of course he'd be eighty dollars richer soon. Mac and Dick had already lost their money, so that was automatically forty dollars. There was no way Lilly and Logan were getting back together after this afternoon, and there was never really a chance at Lilly and Veronica hooking up. And if the little scene of domesticity between Parker and Duncan was any indication, Veronica wouldn't be hooking up with him either.

"Har har, very funny." Veronica's voice chased after him as he gently shut the door and headed down the hall. He snuck past Logan's now shut bedroom door and quietly down the stairs.

* * *

--Logan--

The talking had faded away, Veronica no longer had any visitors. Logan was mildly curious as to who was in her room, but pushed it away as he ran his hand nervously through his hair.

He was pacing his room, the same path over and over again: the wall that supported his headboard, turn, wall that his mirror was mounted on, turn. His hair would stand straight up for a couple minutes, then he'd smooth it back down. Then the cycle would start all over again and he'd start running his hand through it again.

He had to talk to Veronica. As soon as whoever it was that was in there went away he'd go to her and talk to her. Rationally and reasonably, he'd talk to her.

The talking had faded and was quickly becoming a distant memory. Logan rushed to his own door, turned the knob and pushed. The door didn't budge. He pushed again. Nothing.

_Idiot._ Logan pulled and the door opened smoothly. Four feet later and he was at her door, standing there staring at it. He turned the knob and pushed, the door slid open with ease.

"What is it with people just walking in without knocking?" Veronica asked, not once looking up from her novel. "Geeze." The last word was done in imitation of Napoleon Dynamite, done with accuracy Logan struggled not to laugh.

"We need to talk." Logan was shocked at how serious his voice sounded.

"Uh oh, are we breaking up?" Logan again struggled not to laugh, she was really on her game tonight.

"No, and quit goofing off Veronica, this is serious." Logan's voice was still serious, it held no traces of humor in it. Veronica's shoulders stiffened and then relaxed, a clear sign that she'd caught on to the underlying tension in his voice. She was taking him seriously now.

"What exactly are we talking about Logan?" Her own voice had become more somber, more edgy. Her voice always got an edge to it during their 'serious' conversations. Like she was already preparing for the fight, whether the conversation was headed there or not, she was prepared. It usually ended in a fight anyway.

"Why did you tell Lilly we were a fling?" Logan knew she didn't think of them as a fling. Even if Piz hadn't confirmed that ten minutes ago, there was no way a six month relationship could be considered 'a fling'. Still, she might have told Lilly they were a fling to avoid the discussion about their relationship with the other girl.

"What?" Veronica asked, looking genuinely shocked by the question.

"_Why _did you tell Lilly we were just a summer fling before senior year? Why didn't you tell her how serious we had been?" _Why didn't you tell her that we were in love? That I'm still in love with you?_

"I did." She answered shortly, standing up and throwing her book down on the bed in the same motion.

"That's not what she says." Logan accused, not satisfied with her answer.

"I don't give a fuck what Lilly says, I told her what we were. I never once mentioned the word fling and I'm pretty fucking sure I explained what happened _last _year with stunning clarity." Veronica spit the words out, sarcasm dripping from them. Her glare making him want to squirm a little, instead he settle for shifting from foot to foot a couple times.

"Apparently you weren't clear enough because she didn't think it was all that serious. In fact, she thought we were so _casual_ that it wouldn't really be a problem when she and I got back together." Logan saw Veronica flinch before she slipped her mask back into place. He hated that goddamn mask, that fucking hard look of the ice bitch that made him want to bash in her headlights.

"Oh, yeah. Lilly wants to get back with you, and you can't wait to get back together with her right? Got to admire you self-respect, and your restraint." She was hurt, Logan could tell. _This conversation is now miles off course._ "Wow! You've gone this long without running back to her, I'm amazed." Veronica moved towards her closet door, for what reason he didn't know.

"Oh stop it, Veronica. Or is this the part where you get out the piano wire?" Logan asked, calling her out on her apparent jealousy.

"What? Are you saying I'm jealous of Lilly?" Veronica had spun around in shock, knowing full well what he was talking about. "Oh, yeah. Totally jealous. I wish _I_ could be in a coma too. Then maybe I'll have done something stupid enough to ruin everybody's lives _and_ be able to sleep through the fallout."

"Cute, Veronica. Real cute." Logan said, smirking. "Why are you getting so upset? If we were just a fling, and you don't care anymore, why are you upset about his?"

"I'm not upset, I don't care and I never said we were a fucking fling. Now get out of my room." Veronica lifted her arm and pointed at the door behind Logan, just in case he had forgotten where it was.

"You know, you sound like you care."

"I don't, now get out." Veronica repeated, still pointing at the door.

"If we weren't a fling, what were we?" Logan asked. He knew what they were, didn't need it clarified, but he wanted to hear exactly how she described them. Maybe it was her description that gave Lilly the impression they were a fling, maybe it wasn't Veronica's intention. She always did have a hard time with emotions, describing them couldn't be any easier.

"You know what we were, Logan." Veronica's arm dropped back down to her side and her voice got quieter.

"Yeah, I know what we were Veronica, but do you?" Logan was getting annoyed with her, he just wanted her to answer the question.

"We were what we were Logan. Why do you think I told Lilly we were a fling?" Veronica was just now catching on to that, just now realizing where he'd gotten this _fling idea_ from, he could hear that much in her voice.

"Because she said you barely mentioned me. Well, in the relationship sector. I'm sure you told her what a jerk I was right? How I bashed in your headlights and taunted and mocked you. Told her what an evil doer I was. I'm sure you told her all about that." Logan's voice was a bit colder, angry.

"Barely mentioned you? She was my best friend Logan, I told her _everything_." Veronica yelled at him.

"I know you used to tell her everything, Veronica. I'm talking about now!" Logan yelled back.

"Not _used to _Logan, I meant I told her everything that first night." Veronica clarified, no longer yelling.

"Then why is she suddenly so pissed about it? Huh? It's been almost a week and she's just now getting angry? Why?" Logan questioned, urging her to answer him.

"I don't know Logan. I don't understand why she's just now getting pissed." Veronica answered, looking desperate to end the argument. Logan wasn't in quite the same hurry.

"What did you tell her we were?" Logan's voice was softer, no longer angry, bus still held a certain kind of steel that told her his bullshit tolerance level was down.

"I told her… I told her exactly what we were, Logan. Now can we just drop it?" Veronica's hands started to fidget, providing a silly contrast to her stern expression and the tense way she was holding her body.

"Why can't you explain it to me? Are you embarrassed or something?" Logan asked, kind of hoping she'd say she _was _embarrassed. That she'd been all mushy and stuff when she'd spoken to Lilly about him and now she was embarrassed by it.

Veronica remained silent, speechless, looking like she was caught between two options. Option number one, admit that she hadn't explained well and misled Lilly or option two, admit that she explained extremely well.

"Why are you so scared of it, Veronica?" Logan yelled, annoyed by her lack of answer. He was so frustrated that she could never answer him, not when it came to the important emotional stuff. If he asked her for help on a test or an assignment, she'd have answered him the first time in less than a minutes. But when asked about their relationship, something personal, she couldn't give any of the answers that only she had.

"What about me freaks you out so bad, huh?" Logan asked again, his voice rising another couple of notches. "I mean, I fucking love you, I've loved you for three years and in all that time you've been afraid."

Veronica looked paler, and angrier in some ways but, in the end, still like a deer caught in the headlights.

"See, even now, in the face of an emotional confession, me pouring my heart out to you, telling you I love you, you're still scared. You are so scared and so scared to admit that that you just keep running from me and us and using whatever excuse you can to do it." Logan was yelling at her, distracting her from his approach, which went unnoticed. She was only focusing on his words.

"I'm not scared Logan, I just… I can't…" Veronica yelled, stammering on the last few words, unable to get them out.

"You just can't take an emotional risk that might actually make you happy, can you?" Logan was still yelling, but his anger was fading. He was starting to feel depressed, their subject matter starting to take a toll on his own heart, his own emotional wellbeing.

"I can't… I just…" She stammered again, her voice quieter.

"You just _what_, Veronica?" Logan pushed, his voice quieter but still harsh.

"I just love you, okay?!" She yelled out, looking shocked that she'd just admitted that. Like if she could she'd gather the words back up and shoved them back into her mouth, swallow them up again forever.

Logan's eyes got wide and he fought a grin, his heart hammering and his breath getting short and stuttered, making it hard for him to actually _breathe_.

"What did you just say?"

* * *

**A/N:** There you go, the beginnings of the LoVe in this story. Feedback is love, so lets start the new year off right!


	13. 12 Sound

**Title: **The Return 12-Sound

**Rating: **NC-17 (sexual situations.)

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Veronica, Lilly, Duncan _(mentions of: Lilly the second, Piz, Parker, Wallace, Mac, Dick) __LoVe and hints of MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return  
12  
Sound

--Logan--

"_What_ did you just say?" Logan asked again, standing frozen and stock still from Veronica's hasty confession.

"I–I mean…" Veronica stuttered along, trying to explain away her admission. "Oh, hell with it. I love you. Always have, always will."

Logan's mouth hung open in shock, stunned that she was finally admitting her true feelings. Finally saying what he had always wanted her to say. Finally.

"What?" Logan cursed himself at the ridiculousness of his question, any more of this and she was going to take it back and kick him out of her bedroom.

Veronica looked at Logan, obviously amused by his reluctance to accept her words.

"I. Love. You." She punctuated each word crisply, going slowly, as if she were speaking to a child.

Logan's mouth stretched into a grin, and he rushed across the room to wrap his arms around her waist and trap her against his body.

"Don't take it back, okay?" Logan whispered into her ear, just before he pressed his mouth against hers. His hands dropped to Veronica's hips, gripping lightly, as he danced her backwards to the bed. He separated his lips from hers and leaned back.

Veronica was now standing at the foot of the bed, she eyes at half-mast and her lips were already swollen from the kisses. He let the right corner of his mouth pull up into a smile, she looked so cute. Logan gave her a gentle push on the shoulder, causing her to topple to the mattress, amusingly.

They stripped silently and quickly, staring at each other during the process. It'd been eight months since they'd last been together, eight months since either of them had been with anyone. He started on her hips, pressing his mouth to them.

Logan's bottom lip trailed along Veronica's skin as his mouth traveled up her body, pressing wet, open mouthed kisses to her skin every couple of inches. He lingered on her hip, her breasts and her neck, finally coming to settle directly on top of her, his face gazing down into hers.

He smiled down at her, a small and shy smile that he always gave her when they were in their most intimate of moments.

"Hi," Logan whispered, pulling his bottom lip into mouth as he watch her eyes flutter a little and her lips form a small smile of her own.

"Hi," Veronica whispered back to him, feeling herself overwhelmed by the look in his chocolaty brown eyes.

Biting into his lip, Logan stared into her eyes as he thrust into her. In that moment of complete intimacy he forced his eyes to stay open. The near painful burst of pleasure threatened to take him under and make him lose control. He fought it as he watched her face, and saw her own eyes flutter to a close as she inhaled sharply. His hands cupped her shoulders, pressing her down towards his pelvis.

Logan pulled out slightly and thrust back into her, causing Veronica to gasp. He ground his hips into hers, turning the gasp into a low moan. "Again." She breathed out, her small hands gripping his shoulders and pulling his upper body closer to her.

Logan duplicated the action and was pleased by the sharp cry it achieved. He did it again, causing her back to arch, pressing her breasts harder into his chest. Veronica's nails dug into his shoulders as he repeated the action again and again. She drug her nails down his back, not releasing any pressure. There would be marks tomorrow, red scratch marks serving as both a brand and a declaration.

Feeling Veronica begin to tighten around him, Logan reached down between them to help her along in her quest for release, swiping his thumb swiftly over her clit.

"Logan!" Veronica cried out, breaking apart in Logan's arms as she rode the wave of pleasure.

Logan finally let go, tumbling into his own orgasm at the feel of Veronica reaching hers. He shouted her name as he pushed into her one last time, before he collapsed on top of her out of exhaustion.

* * *

--Lilly--

Lilly lay in bed on the other side of the wall that supported both the headboard to Veronica's bed and her own. A tear rolled out over her eye and down onto her pillow.

She wasn't jealous, and she didn't begrudge Veronica for jumping in bed with the sex god that was Logan Echolls. But listening to their happy little reunion, after hearing him declare his _undying_ love for her best friend she wished she had been that girl for him. True, Logan Echolls had been absolutely infatuated with Lilly Kane once upon a time. He had claimed love–true and everlasting love–that had made quick work of any and all hesitation she had toward sex. Love had been something that got her panties off at the beginning of their relationship. Lilly hadn't ever really believed that he loved her like he said he did, and that was why she had dallied so often with so many. But he had cared very deeply for her, of that much she was sure. And right now she missed the adoring looks from her brother's best friend. Because believe it or not, she was lonely.

Lilly smiled, suddenly amused by her current circumstances. Here she was, lying in bed, alone, listening to her more now more worldly and more jaded best friend having sex with her boyfriend. Lilly Kane had somehow become Veronica Mars. She was by no means sweet and innocent, but compared to the Veronica her best friend was now, she was. Badass Veronica Mars that chased down bad guys, caught murderers and rapists, and didn't need a guy, but had them all panting after her anyway.

While _she_ had none.

Lilly was suddenly depressed again, the tears starting to flow more freely. A sob escaped her as she turned to lay on her right side. She wiped at her eyes before shutting them and trying to hold the tears in. She refused to cry herself to sleep.

* * *

--Duncan--

The house is quite literally full of noise, and full of life. He's sitting here in the center of the large King bed with Lilly the younger. His daughter tossed toys carelessly around the bed and crawled after them, pushing the buttons on them to make the music start and stop. Between the bursts of _Mary Had A Little Lamb_ and silence he could hear the _life_ that went on around him. And he was stuck in bed with a twenty-two month old little girl who had spent the day terrorizing all four girls and five of the six guys in the house. The only one she was sweet to was Logan, it seemed she was enamored with him, which proved his earlier point. All Lilly Kanes love him.

Of course that had been between fights and screaming matches and naps and meals. Now he was keeping her quiet with toys, but if she decided to rebel and become the little monster that she had been all day he'd be out of luck. Out of luck and stuck with a cranky almost-two-year-old because by the sound of things, Logan was busy.

The sounds of Veronica's moans and Logan's grunts traveled the two doors to Duncan's bedroom. If she was getting loud he could only imagine that they were nearing the end of their _activities_ and would be done soon. Hopefully she wouldn't yell out anything too obscene for the innocent ears of his daughter.

Then he remembered. The only reason it was two doors down and not one was because Lilly had claimed the room right next to Veronica's. They shared a wall, and if memory served that wall supported both of their headboards. Lilly Senior had gone to bed hours ago, drained from her earlier fights with the couple and could probably hear everything. Actually, she more than likely could hear it loud and clear after being awoken by the sound of them fighting nearly twenty minutes prior to _this_.

Little Lilly continued to push buttons, nursery rhymes blaring randomly throughout the room and making the sounds of Logan and Veronica bizarrely stuttered. But when she failed to end the song by pressing the button, Duncan realized that while he had drifted off in his own thoughts she had fallen asleep in the awkward position of being hunched over her toy.

The singing stopped and with it silence. There was no noise coming in from outside the bedroom's open door for a few moments and Duncan thought that he might have imagined it But he could hear the low rumble of Logan's voice followed by Veronica's airy giggle. And mixed in with it was the low and subtle pitch of Lilly crying from her room sandwiched in between them and Duncan.

Duncan listened as Logan's talking got quieter and then stopped. Veronica didn't giggle anymore and he assumed that they had gone to sleep. Duncan thanked god and whoever else for that, for them not going for a second round. Out of all the things he wanted to hear in his life, the sound of his best friend having sex with his ex-girlfriend wasn't among them.

Neither was the sound of his sister crying over it, so thankfully after a few more minutes that faded too. Duncan could only assume that she had fallen asleep as well, probably cried herself to sleep. She'd be pissed in the morning if that was the case, and Duncan hoped that she focused her wrath on the parties responsible.

Duncan slid off the bed and lifted his daughter, placing her gently in the sleeper crib that Logan had had set up in the room. After making sure she was still sound asleep he shuffled to the door to close out the other sounds of the house. But he paused at the sound of laughter.

Piz, Parker and Wallace were down in the kitchen playing a game in the kitchen, loudly. Parker was squealing and yelling about kicking one of their asses. It was possible they had found the old Monopoly board game that Logan and him had hid years ago to prevent Lilly and Veronica from forcing them to play it. During their stay here one summer Lilly had decided that red and green were too boring for the hotels and houses. So the game had pink houses and violet hotels, and instead of the regular game pieces it had been fashion charms that Lilly had gotten from the jewelry store. Logan refused to play a tube of lipstick, so he and Duncan had hidden the game then spent the rest of the trip listening to the girls whine about it.

Apparently Parker was winning, but Wallace sounded like he was gaining on her. The low rumbles from Piz sounded like he was losing, and pretty badly at that. Most of the noise was coming from Wallace and Parker, they were shouting and laughing and overly vocal about their game.

There were quieter noises coming from the living room. Dick and Mac were still down there, talking about summer and surfing. Duncan couldn't even begin to imagine where their friendship had started, or why. Mac was giggling softly, and from what he had heard from Veronica about Mac, she didn't giggle. Dick's laugh was loud and boisterous in comparison, marking the contrast in their personalities. Somehow the two of them fit, though. The both seemed lost and broken in a way that he didn't understand.

Like Logan and Veronica.

* * *

**A/N:** Feedback is love, and look, right after a LoVe chapter.

**A/N:** Just in case anyone noticed, earlier I somehow referred to Mac as Madison... no quite sure how I managed that one, just know that I'm a dork and it's been fixed.


	14. 13 Potential

**Title: **The Return 13-Potential

**Rating: **PG-13 (mentions of sexual situations and just in case there's anything else.)

**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly the first, Veronica, Parker, Duncan, Mac, Logan, Dick _(mentions of: Lilly the second) __LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return  
13  
Potential

--Lilly--

Lilly sat on the porch in the early morning light, a chill seeping in where she'd let the blanket droop. As she pulled it tighter against her the screen door opened and shut softly behind her. Lilly didn't turn to look who it was.

The person took three soft steps straight forward and stood for a moment next to her, before sitting so close there were only a couple inches between them. Veronica's warmth radiated off of her, like she was a small space heater in her sweats and one of Logan's hoodies.

Veronica kept her head straight, looking off into the distance of the front yard, to the mountains. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she cuddled into herself next to Lilly on the top step of the porch.

"You lied Lilly." Veronica's voice was calm and a little breathy in the early morning. Her soft voice somehow didn't seem to hold the anger Lilly had expected and feared all night long.

"I know." Lilly whispered. She'd been dreading this since last night, after her fight with Logan. She hadn't meant to go that far, hadn't meant to lie. It was an old habit, lie to get what you want, lie to win the fight. She had done it all throughout high school, used it like a weapon. But that was the thing. She had done it in high school, which was a different time, but she was still stuck in it. They'd all moved on and grew up without her, and now she was playing catch up. All the younger ones were so much older and wiser than she was now. It was such a difficult position to be in.

"Why?" Veronica asked, finally looking over at her. Lilly was suddenly struck by how different her friend had really become, but somehow she was still the same.

"Because I fought with you for a reason. I started thinking, that maybe… well maybe, if I let things slip too far into what they used to be, they would actually start to go back to what they were. I don't want to be with Logan, not anymore. And honestly even if I did, I'd be a little disappointed in him if he actually wanted to be with me." Veronica raised an eyebrow, looking at her in disbelief. Lilly knew what that look meant. It clearly said "yeah right, you're happier when everyone is in love with you".

"First of all, after what I did, I really don't deserve Logan. He loves so completely, and so… so… passionately. If he loves you, if he cares about you, then you're all he thinks about and he pretty much devotes himself to you." Lilly took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say next. "And that's the other thing, he's in love with you. He has you, and from what I understand… from what people have told me. You're pretty amazing. Like a super-hero or something. So why would anyone give you up for the silly girl that made all the wrong mistakes? The girl that's still stuck in high school, a place that wasn't very kind to Logan."

"Lilly." Veronica whispered, her tone sounded as if she both agreed and disagreed with her assessment of her own character.

Lilly shook her head, she knew where this was going. Veronica was going to try and do the nice thing. She was going to tell her that she made one mistake and yeah, it sucked, but it didn't define her. It was the same thing she said to her the night they went to Logan's hotel room, when Lilly had freaked out in the car and begged to not go up there.

"That's the way it is Ronica. I know that. I plan to change it, to get out of high school and grow up and fix my stupid life. But right now, I'm stuck there. I might be twenty-one, but in my head and my heart and everything, I'm still sixteen. Almost seventeen." Lilly finished with a smile, one that was both genuine and sad.

"I'm always going to love you Lilly." Veronica said, her voice low. She leaned in and hugged her, whispering the rest into her ear. "But you really do have to grow up now, and you really do have to fix this with Logan."

Lilly pulled back out of the embrace to look into Veronica's face.

"There's a lot of things that I have to fix with a lot of people." Lilly whispered back. "I just started with you."

* * *

--Parker--

Parker sat at the kitchen counter, eating a bowl of cold cereal. Lucky Charms. She was pretty sure that they belonged to Logan. Or maybe Duncan, for his daughter. But she didn't care, she's was pretty sure she was the first one up and if she was done in time could completely deny the fact that she'd stolen a bowl.

"You know, Logan's gonna freak if all his cereal is gone when he gets up." Duncan's voice startled her. He was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, looking at her with a smile on his face and his daughter on his hip. Lilly had her blanket clutched to her chest and her head on her daddy's shoulder.

"It's not all gone, there's still at least two bowls left." Parker pointed out, lifting the box and giving it a little shake.

"Yeah, but there's only going to be one bowl left after Lilly has some." Duncan walked closer, repositioning Lilly to slide her into the high chair. "She won't eat anything but Lucky Charms now, something she's picked up from Logan."

Duncan got a small child's bowl out, along with a little spoon and the milk. Parker smiled at the sight of all the tiny flatware. It was all pink with little flowers, and she let out a breathy giggle at the thought of Logan picking it out. The small sound caught Duncan's attention and he looked at her with the puzzled look she often saw on his face.

"Should I be worried that she's only twenty-two months old and already madly in love with Logan?" Duncan asked, shaking his head as he poured a small amount of cereal and an even smaller amount of milk into the bowl.

"No. Logan's a charmer, he's always going to have the legions of ladies, it just means she's normal." Parker answered, leaning over the counter to give the bowl to Lilly, since she was closer.

"I keep forgetting that you two dated. He usually doesn't have such a good relationship with the girl after, well after the relationship ends." Duncan walked around the counter to sit next to her, grabbing a giant blueberry muffin from the basket on the other side of the counter.

"Yeah, well, we never should have gotten together." Parker said, slurping up a spoonful of milk. "Not that it wasn't fun. He just wasn't over Veronica and I was, well I was still pretty fragile."

Parker wasn't sure how much he knew about her, how much of her story Logan and Veronica had shared with him. She didn't mind if they had told him about her rape, she just hated telling people. It wasn't like back home in Neptune, at Hearst, where everybody knew.

"I'm not sure he was ever going to get over her. And by the sounds of things last night, I don't think he'll even have to attempt to anymore." Parker said, lifting her bowl and tipping it to slurp the remaining milk out of the bowl.

"You know what? I think that's the way things are supposed to be." Duncan announced through a mouthful of muffin. "For a long time I thought she and I were meant to be, this couple that was going to be together forever. But now, I don't."

Parker gave Duncan a puzzled look. From what she'd heard from Mac the last couple of days, and Wallace last night, they'd been this perfect golden couple.

"I mean, after everything we're definitely not right for each other. And I used to think all these obstacles were getting in our way and once we got past them we'd be together forever and totally happy. But now, now I think that maybe they were there to prevent us from being together because we weren't mean to be together. They were there as a warning. And everything that Veronica went through after the Lilly thing, everything that Logan went through… it was all so they'd be better for each other, so they'd be right for each other. They changed, but this way they're better suited towards each other. Sweet and perfect Veronica and hormonally charged, slightly broken Logan wouldn't have made it. Broken and bitter Veronica and that Logan wouldn't have been good either. But broken Veronica and broken Logan fit, like they fix each other and what they don't fix they make up for." Duncan looked at Parker. "Does that make any sense?"

"Perfect sense." She whispered. She was amazed at how well Duncan knew Logan and Veronica. They kept their secrets so well that she didn't think anyone actually _knew_ them, nobody but each other. But Duncan and Lilly, they knew them. Duncan knew them enough to know that they were meant to be together. Lilly had proved she knew them yesterday, known exactly what to say to make a cut. "You really know them."

Parker was glad for that. She didn't have to worry about them so much. Often it seemed that they were all they had, the two of them. Parker had always known that Veronica was basically Logan's family, that she was always going to be more important to him than anyone else. Veronica had her father and Wallace and Mac, but it seemed that Logan was the only one that really understood her, really knew her. That was a lonely place, though. Only one person in the world that you were able to fully be yourself with, and that person knew your past.

"You know, you seem to really know them too. Just not in the way that I do. Or Lilly does." Duncan pointed out, looking directly into her eyes. "We don't know them now, or what they're like in college. How Veronica manages her courses, or how often Logan goes to class. I can imagine, make a guess. I'm sure Veronica has everything color-coded and goes through a highlighter a week. And Logan only attends the class if he absolutely must, but when he does he isn't really there anyway. Still, somehow he inexplicably passes all his classes, and usually does pretty well in them."

Parker raised an eyebrow. "Those are pretty good guesses. Veronica sometimes makes it two weeks with a highlighter. And I could never figure out how Logan passed all his classes, how he's not on academic probation this year."

Parker and Duncan giggled, their discussion straying away from their mutual topics of Logan and Veronica and to things that ranged from the mundane to the silly.

It wasn't an important conversation, in fact it wasn't really about anything at all. They didn't get too serious or even tiptoe around the serious subjects. They barely mentioned their pasts or their futures, like everyone else she met did. It wouldn't go down in history as the most intellectual conversation, it probably wouldn't even be too important to either of them.

But it had potential.

* * *

--Mac--

"So, you and Dick huh?" Mac was startled as she crept out of Dick's room to head for breakfast.

"Why are you always so quiet?" Mac asked, glaring at her witness, the only one to have caught on to her and Dick's little game. Of course it was _him_.

"Because I'm a ninja." Logan did a little kick, followed by a chopping motion with his hands as he said this. "Now, you and Dick?"

"Okay, you caught us, now what?" Mac asked, curious to Logan's reaction. He wasn't freaking out, but she expected that more of Veronica. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting from Logan, but this instant acceptance wasn't it.

"_Now what_?" He repeated, a smirk slowly spreading into a smile across his face. Then, at the top of his lungs he began to sing: "Mac and Dick, sittin in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Logan had barely called out the letter '_I_' before Mack lunged at him. She missed and he went running down the stairs, still singing.

"First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes baby in the—oof!" Logan's song was cut short when Mac tackled him to the ground in the hallway, only a couple feet from Veronica's bedroom door. He'd obviously thought he'd find safety in there, probably had planned to make his getaway by running in there and locking the door.

"I can't believe… actually, I can. Of course you take it upon yourself to inform the entire household and all of our friends… IN SONG!" Mac yelled out the last two words, getting up from her position on the floor next to Logan's prone body, which lay sprawled across the hallway floor.

As Mac stood and began to dust off her pajama bottoms she looked up to find Dick standing on the stairs they had just run down, looking utterly amused.

"That was the weirdest wake up call I've ever had." Dick said, stretching his arms up as Logan groaned on the floor.

"What is all the yelling about?" Veronica asked, coming up the stairs from the lower level. After spotting Logan on the floor, face down, and Mac standing over his body, looking victorious she smiled nervously. "What's going on?"

Mac looked to Dick, hoping he'd take the lead. He just looked afraid, very, _very_ afraid. Mac took a deep fortifying breath, she'd have to remember Dick's fear of tiny blondes in the future. It might come in handy.

"Mac and Dick are dating." Logan beat her to the punch. She was just about to reveal her new relationship to her best friend when he blurted it out.

"Logan. That's not funny." Veronica said admonishingly, stepping forward to help him up. When he was standing he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It's not a joke babe, they're really together." Logan paused a moment. "Actually I'm not sure if they're _dating_, but she spent the night in his room."

Mac closed her eyes, waiting for the fallout. Veronica hated Dick, for reasons Mac wasn't entirely sure of.

Mac opened her eyes and saw Logan whispering in Veronica's ear, something that made Veronica's face soften. She nodded.

"It's too early, can we talk about this later?" Veronica asked Mac.

"Yeah, we'll talk this afternoon." Mac agreed, bouncing her head up and down the entire time in gleeful agreement, happy to delay this conversation just a little bit longer.

"Good." Veronica said, turning and disappearing into her bedroom.

"What exactly did you say to her?" Mac asked Logan before he could follow her into the room.

Logan just shrugged, winking at her as he walked backwards through the door. As soon as he was in far enough in he gripped the edge of the door and swung it closed.

Mac got one last glimpse of his cocky grin before it shut, then she heard Dick release a breath from the steps behind her.

"That went a lot better than what I thought it was going to be." Dick said, she turned around to see him sag onto the railing.

"Yeah, but we still have to talk later. And that has the potential to be a bad conversation." Mac said, somehow not believing her own words. There was something in the way Logan smiled at her and the way Veronica had nodded that made her think that this wasn't going to be such a fight. That Veronica wouldn't immediately disapprove.

* * *

**A/N:** Feedback is love 


	15. 14 More

Title: The Return 14-More 

**Rating: **PG-13 (mentions of sexual situations and just in case there's anything else.)

**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly the first, Parker, Duncan _(mentions of: Lilly the second, Logan, Veronica)_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return  
14  
More

--Lilly--

Lilly sat in the kitchen with Parker. Duncan had just taken little Lilly upstairs for her morning bath. Even though it was eleven and closing in on more of an afternoon bath. She had a feeling that this was the most relaxed in the baby's schedule he'd ever been.

"So, you like my brother?" Lilly asked, having just witnessed a good forty-five minutes of her flirting with him. He just thought he'd made a new friend. Silly boy.

"What?" Parker asked, faking confusion.

"Don't 'what' me, I saw all that flirting. I used to be quite good at it, and much better at the faux innocence thing. You should work on that." She pointed out, reaching for the box of Lucky Charms that sat on the counter. "Uh-oh, looks like Logan will be SOL when it comes to his cereal."

Lilly pulled Parker's bowl over the counter and set in the sink before she reached into the cupboard for one of her own.

"Logan is going to freak, are you sure you should do that?" Parker asked, this time her innocence wasn't fake, just naïve.

"I'm not scared of Logan, and I've seen his breakfast cereal freak outs before. Nothing compared to the 'who ate my leftover spaghetti' or the 'someone stole my video game' freak outs, but its up there." Lilly said as she tipped the cereal box and started to shake its contents out into her bowl.

"I'm just saying, since you're already on thin ice with him anyway. Don't you want to at least try to get on his good side after what you did?" Parker asked, crossing that line of understandable and thinks-she's-so-smart. Parker clearly thought she knew more about what was going on than she really did.

"Excuse me, but Logan doesn't have a good side, not when it comes to this. And what do you know about 'what I did'?" Lilly asked, holding her hands up to do the air-quotes.

"I know you slept with his father, and he put you in a coma over… something." Parker replied, lifting her chin in obvious defiance.

"Over sex tapes, that's what he put me into a coma for. He bashed me over the head with an ashtray by my family pool, while I was tanning and reading a magazine. Do you know how old I was?" Lilly paused, giving Parker a moment to try and make a guess. "About two months shy of seventeen."

Parker was in a word, shocked, Lilly could see that. The girl had thought she knew the whole story: Girl dates boy for two years, girl and boy break up, girl sleeps with boys father and he goes ballistic and puts her in a coma for… something. This Parker girl had no idea what she was dealing with.

"What about what you said to him yesterday? He seems to have gotten over all that other stuff, he was getting along with you until that whole thing with Veronica. Don't you want to try and keep him from getting that pissed at you again?" Parker asked, and Lilly was amazed at how little this girl actually knew of her friend, scratch that, ex-boyfriend.

_And I thought Veronica was naïve._

"Logan didn't get over all the other stuff, just buried it so he wouldn't have to deal. They all do that, all three of them. And no, I don't want to appease him. I've never done it before and I'm pretty sure he'd start to get suspicious if I started now." Lilly poured the milk over the cereal that had started the whole thing. She dipped her spoon in, loaded it up and shoved it in her mouth, dribbling mild all over the counter. "And you should be more worried about the Donut than Logan anyway."

"Excuse me?" Parker was back to the faux innocence thing again, but there was just a tad more indignation to it this time.

"I mean, the Donut thinks he's made this new friend and he's what to you? Target practice?" Lilly asked, calling Parker out on her behavior towards her brother.

"Target practice? I don't know…" Parker trailed off, looking like she was genuinely confused.

"Duncan is looking at you like he just made a new friend, not like you're potential girlfriend material. I know what that look looks like, he used to give it to my best friend all the time. And at some point he's going to catch on to all this flirting. My little brother is dense, but eventually he has to see what is so clearly obvious." Parker gave a little snort of offense at that, still trying to protest the 'flirting'.

"As soon as he catches on he'll be infatuated, thinking he's in love, and you'll be stuck. You going to let him down easy? There is no letting him down easy, and you're going to risk his daughter over a little flirting? You think I'm going to let you do that? Or better yet, your good friends Logan and Veronica? You told me how protective they were you after your rape, and they just met you. You wanna see what they'll do if you hurt their oldest friend?" Lilly warned, looking directly in Parker's eyes.

"They won't take it lightly, and neither will I. You'll be without friends." Lilly said. "Except for Pish."

"Piz."

"Whatever."

"I'm not meaning to–it's just that…" Parker paused looking around nervously. "I don't want to hurt him or anything. I just thought we were friends."

"Boys and girls can't be friends. It just can't work. Sex _always_ gets in the way." Lilly said, her voice cold. "Logan and Veronica used to be _friends_. Logan and I used to be friends. Duncan and Veronica were friends, much like the two of you are. Sweet and innocent, with a little flirting. See what happened to them?"

Parker's eyes were confused as her brow furrowed and she just stared at Lilly.

"You probably _don't_ know the sordid details, but it goes a little something like this… boy and girl fall in love, boy breaks it off by pretending girl doesn't exist, boy knocks up another girl while the first girl falls in love with boy's best friend, boy's bff is stupid and girl and boy get together in a completely pointless rerun of their very dull and boring fairytale. Only the second time they have sex."

"How do you know? You weren't even there." Parker pointed out, pissing Lilly off.

"I didn't have to be there, Duncan has always been boring and Duncan and Veronica were boring together the first time. If it weren't for Logan and I they would have retired to Florida with a week of getting together."

"You know, when they said you were a bitch I though that maybe they were exaggerating. Mac and Dick, when we left Logan's that night, all they could talk about was that now that you were back there would be some huge drama and lots of fights and it would all boil down to how big of a bitch you are. I thought they were kidding, or something. They were right." Parker stood and let her chair squeal against the floor. The younger girl shook her head and left the kitchen, obviously too disappointed to say anything else.

* * *

--Duncan--

She was asking for Logan and she was asking for Veronica, and Duncan didn't know how his daughter had gotten so attached so quickly.

"It's okay baby, we'll find someone other than boring old daddy." Duncan told her in as comforting a voice as he could manage while juggling her and her bag of toys that he packed up every night, but when he passed Veronica's bedroom door he quickly added, "Maybe Parker?"

Lilly seemed appeased by this, quieting slightly. _I guess anyone is better than me?_

Duncan continued down the stairs, amazed that his daughter was already sick of him and she wasn't even two yet. Probably embarrassed to be seen with him, like he'd been of his own parents by the age of eleven.

He made it to the bottom of the stairs and headed for the kitchen, detouring when he caught a glimpse of Parker's sweater outside, laying in the grass.

Duncan sat Lilly down and struggled for a few minutes while trying to get her into a coat and hat. She had obviously seen Parker too, because she was pointing and trying to escape him. _Yep, definately sick of me._ Duncan scooped her back up and opened the font door, letting a small gust of wind hit him square in the face before he grabbed his own jacket and stepped out.

Carrying her down the stairs wasn't as easy as it normally was, her escape immenent. Lilly squirmed so much at the prospect of being released that Duncan had almost dropped her. _Twice._

"Hey! What're you doing?" He yelled out, bending to let Lilly down so she could walk over there herself, giving him an opportunity to slip on his own coat.

"Nothing, just… getting some air." Parker seemed a little cagey, like she'd wanted the time alone and Duncan had interrupted.

"I'm sorry, are we interrupting you?" He asked, darting forward to catch Lilly before she made it across the yard to Parker.

"No, not really. I was just, I guess I was just going to try and read a little, you know, for class? I mean, I have a paper due the day after we get back and I haven't even started really, and I just…"

"Okay, we'll leave you alone." Duncan tried desperately to keep his disappointment from showing. It looked like he'd just lost the only person that was willing to hang out with him. To school.

_To school?_ Duncan looked around the blanket that she'd laid out, there wasn't a book in sight.

"You don't have your book." He pointed out, hoisting Lilly up on his hip.

"Oh, yeah, I'm thinking actually. About the book, thinking about it and analyzing what I know of it." Parker stammered through her explanation.

"Oh, really? Cool, well, what do you know?" Duncan asked, genuinely interested, he missed school and it would be a while before he could try his hand at a college experience. And even then, he'd still have Lilly and it wouldn't be the same as everyone else's.

"The title."

"Huh?" Now he was confused.

"I'm trying to anali–you know what? Enough with school work, lets play." Parker announced sitting up and reaching her arms out for Lilly.

"Parker? What's going on?" Duncan asked, his voice soft and more than a little confused. He'd been down here two hours ago and things had been fine. Now though, now she was acting shifty. Like she didn't want to spend anymore time with him.

"Parker?" he said, still questioning.

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea, but I just… I don't want you to get hurt." Parker explained.

"What?" Duncan was even more perplexed by the topic of their conversation.

"It was just harmless flirting, I'm not, like, in love with you or something." Parker suddenly wouldn't look at him, and looked everywhere but at him.

Duncan sighed a long suffering sigh, then said the only word that could inspire such exasperation.

"Lilly."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Duncan entered the cabin alone, having left his daughter with Parker. He needed to talk to his sister.

He practically burst through the kitchen door to find Lilly sitting alone at the table, reading… a book?

"_What_. Are you doing?" Duncan asked, shocked at his sister reading. For pleasure.

"Cliff diving… obviously." Lilly replied, not even looking up from her novel.

"Obviously." Duncan repeated, tilting his head to get a better look at the title. "I didn't know you cliff dived while reading _Pride and Prejudice_."

"This was in Logan's 'game room', you know, on the other shelf. The one without all the video games shoved on it." Lilly informed him, turning a page.

"Huh, never would have thought that one." Duncan conceded. That's when he noticed the bowl of slightly pink milk in front of Lilly, and the empty box of Lucky Charms laying on its side next to her. "Did you eat all of Logan's cereal?"

"So?"

"Logan is going to flip when he finds out all his cereal is gone." Pointed out, his arm stretching out in front of him to point at the bowl.

"So I've been told. Several times." Lilly seemed even more annoyed by him pointing this out, but he chose to ignore it, focusing on the reason that had brought him in here.

"Did you tell Parker to stay away from me?" Duncan asked bluntly, looking down at Lilly, who was still sitting in the kitchen chair.

"Not exactly, but if that's what she got from it." Lilly still hadn't looked at him, just kept reading while giving almost off-handed answers.

"If you don't mind-" He reached out and snatched the book out of her hands, slamming it back down on the table. "-telling me why exactly?"

"You'll be going… away, for a while soon and I don't think that it's something either you or mini-me needs right now." Lilly replied, reaching for the book. Duncan put his hand over it, leaning forward on his hand a little so she couldn't simply slide it out.

"Uh-uh, that's not a real answer. Try again." Duncan said, shaking his head.

"I don't like her. And I don't want her to be my sister-in-law and I don't like her." Lilly told him, standing up so she could give him a shove.

The push knocked him off balance and he lifted his hand momentarily, long enough for Lilly to grab the book.

"Why don't you like her?" Duncan asked, confused. Parker seemed like a nice girl. But then again, he'd never had the best judge of character and Lilly had basically chosen all his friends from kindergarten up till now. Except one. Troy Van Der Graff. And look how well that one had turned out.

"I just don't. She barely knows any of us and yet she's here, inserting herself into our lives. And she was Veronica's friend, but she hopped right on the Logan train not too long after their break-up. That doesn't mark a good friend to me."

"You're okay with Veronica being on the Logan train, and he's _your _ex." Duncan pointed out and Lilly just rolled her eyes.

"Veronica is different, we have history. I hold her to a completely different standard than Parker." Lilly said, obviously angry over the comparison of her best friend and the 'new girl'.

"You have to learn to let go Lilly." Duncan told her before turning and walking out. He was going to go outside and play with his daughter and Parker. They were friends, and Lilly reading more into it didn't mean that it _was_ more.

* * *

**A/N:** So this story centered more on Parker, Duncan and Lilly. And by more I mean completely. There's LoVe and MaDi in the upcoming chapter though, and it's almost completely written so it shouldn't be too long until its posted. Feedback is love, so share it.

I should be posting chapter 15 later on today.


	16. 15 Storytime

**Title: **The Return 15-Storytime

**Rating: **R (mentions of sexual situations and just in case there's anything else.)

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Veronica, Mac, Dick _(mentions of: Lilly the first, ) __LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return  
15  
Storytime

--Logan--

Logan rolled off Veronica and landed flat on his back next to her, letting out a sigh of contentment. Sliding his arm between her back and the mattress he curled her up into his side, and she immediately cuddled into him.

"You think…" she panted a bit, still trying to catch her breath. "Tonight maybe, well maybe we should sleep in your bed. Do _this_ in your bed?"

"Why? We've been doing it so well in here." Logan stretched legs out and arched his back a little, closing his eyes in anticipation of a well deserved nap. They had done this at least three times this morning, after his little chase and tackle with Mac. He needed a rest.

"Because Lilly's bed is on the other side of this wall. I'd rather not rub her face in it, and that's kind of what it feels like we'd be doing." Veronica reasoned, shifting on the bed so she was on her side, pressed against his side and sliding her arm across his stomach and up his chest. "Unless, that's what you're doing."

Logan tightened his arm around her, preventing her from slipping away from him. "No, of course not. It's just my bedroom is at the top and bottom of two flights of stairs. Anyone going to and from their rooms are going to… _hear_ us."

"As apposed to now?" Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow. "Everyone can hear us now, it's not like the walls are sound proof. I'd just prefer that it was a little more of a muffled sound that Lilly heard rather than loud and clear… screaming."

"Babe, you're not a screamer. Sure, you yell, but there's a difference between a yeller and a screamer." Logan informed her, not seeing her rather annoyed glare before it was too late. Veronica slapped his chest, the sound even louder in the quiet room. Logan glanced down at the red handprint on his chest. "Um, ow, that hurt. Quit smacking me or you're never getting any again, I don't care how much you sweet talk me."

"Who cares, I've already had you, I'm done with you now." Veronica leaned back, momentarily looking taken aback. "In fact, what are you still doing here?"

"Shut up, you love me remember?" Logan watched as Veronica faked an indignant gasp, her mouth gaped open in shock.

"I thought you knew, I was only trying to get into your pants." Logan watched as she struggled against a smile.

"Good, because that's what I thought. I don't want you too get attached." Veronica rolled her eyes as a huge grin overtook her face, and the giggle she'd been holding in burst forward.

"Jerk." Was all she said before her fingers dug into his sides and she began to tickle him.

"Stop!" He yelled out, gasping for breath in between his short bursts of laughter.

They rolled around the bed wildly, finally stopping when Veronica got so close to the edge that her leg slipped off and hit the floor. Logan pulled her fully back onto the bed, lying on his side and facing her. She stayed on her back, gazing up at the ceiling as Logan's fingers traced circles over her stomach.

"Okay, so we'll move into my room tonight." Logan complied, nuzzling his nose into her hair. "Just as long as you stay in there with me."

"Yeah, might as well." She said nonchalantly, faking indifference again. But suddenly she rolled to face him straight on, looking seriously. "You know, you have to make things right with Lilly, right?"

Logan's mood deflated instantly. Making things right with Lilly meant he had to talk to her. _Can't I just write her a long and angry letter?_

"Can I write it in a letter?" Logan asked, wincing at how much he sounded like some old song they used to play at all the dances. _Either way babe, I have to know._

"No, you cannot write it in a letter." Veronica sat up, shaking her head. "I don't know where you get such ideas, but in a letter? That's just mean, you might as well just start ignoring her. Pretend she doesn't exist."

"Not my style, babe. Remember? I'm much more a beat the dead horse type, never let it go." Logan said it jovially, and tried to keep the warning out of his voice. He did not like being compared to Duncan, not even in the slightest reference.

Veronica slipped out of bed and tiptoed to her dresser, pulling out clothes. She was going to wear her own clothes now, which meant she intended to actually get up.

"We getting up?" Logan tried desperately to keep his disappointment at bay, keep it out of the question.

"Logan, it's almost one in the afternoon. I have to eat and talk to Mac and do a little home…" Veronica's head snapped up and she looked nervously at him. "Call. I have to do a home call. To my dad, I have to call my dad."

"Yeah, that home _call_ has nothing to do with the book bag full of home_work_ in your closet, right?" Logan stood and pulled his boxers and jeans on, the same ones he was wearing last night.

Veronica looked like she'd just gotten caught with a hand in the cookie jar, her eyes wide and her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. She tried to stutter out an excuse but he just smirked and shook his head.

"I'm going to go to my room and change, I'll meet you down there?" Logan took three steps closer to her, until he was close enough to lean down and kiss her forehead.

"Yeah, I'll see you down there." She replied and he turned on his heel and walked swiftly to and out the door.

_Maybe a little shower wouldn't hurt.

* * *

_

--Veronica--

Veronica hopped down the last two steps, her buoyant mood only slightly dampened by her growling stomach. _From now on, I'm keeping snacks on the bedside table._

"Hey." Lilly greeted, coming from the direction of the kitchen.

"Hey!" Veronica exclaimed, perhaps a little too excited and overcompensating just a bit for the lie she was just about to tell. "Logan wants to see you upstairs. He's in his room."

"Why?" Lilly froze on the bottom stair, turning slowly to look at her.

"Why do you think? You guys have to fix this, because you're going to be around for a while and I refuse to be in the middle of anything." Veronica told her, continuing down the hall before she paused, a sudden thought coming over her. "Hey! Make sure you knock before you go in, and when he says 'come in', make sure to tell him it's you and not me."

"Yeah, whatever. I've already seen him naked." Lilly pointed out, going up two more steps.

"Yeah, past tense. Don't make me have to kill you Lilly." Veronica froze at her inappropriate humor, but Lilly just laughed as she continued up the stairs.

Entering the kitchen Veronica saw the empty box of cereal and let out a sigh.

"Logan is going to whine about that." She said to herself

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Veronica was about halfway through her second sandwich when she heard the floor creak. He head snapped up and she caught Mac and Dick hovering in the doorway, looking unsure whether or not they wanted to come closer or run away.

"You know I've just eaten, so I'm pretty sure I won't be biting." Veronica told them as a way of inviting them in. She wasn't going to make it easy on them, or more specifically, on Dick.

Dick gave Mac a little shove and she stumbled into the kitchen a little before straightening out and walking to the table. She sat directly across from Veronica, looking at her calmly. But Veronica knew that she was probably still freaking out a little.

They sat there a moment, a silent staring contest that amused Veronica. _Mac must really think I'm was mad or something._ But before too long had passed they both turned their heads and looked at Dick, who was still standing in the doorway.

"You coming?" Veronica asked, her voice low and she had to admit, a little intimidating. Maybe if she found just the right inflection, she'd be able to make him pee his pants.

"Um, yeah." Dick two steps toward the table before thinking better of it and stopping. "Macky? Didn't you want some water? I can get it for you. While I'm up."

"Sure Dick, with ice." Mac looked at Dick briefly and then back to Veronica. "Okay, get it over with."

"Get what over with?" Veronica asked, tilting her head to the side.

"The 'what are you thinking' speech, followed closely by you yelling at Dick." Mac informed her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Veronica told her, her voice tense from the fact that she really was holding back. She really did want to give Mac the speech and ask her what she was thinking. And she really did want to yell at Dick.

But Logan had been right. Dick had been different lately, since this summer when he'd started hanging out with Mac. And once upon a time, Logan had been just like Dick. A dick.

"So… you're okay with this?" Mac asked.

"Really?" Dick questioned loudly before Veronica could answer.

"Not completely, but I'll get there. I guess." Veronica was a little disappointed in herself at how wishy-washy she sounded. She and Logan had talked about this, that she was going to be supportive and let them be. That she wasn't going to freak out and bitch about the two of them. "Actually, Dick, can I talk to Mac alone?"

"Um, oh-okay." Dick agreed obviously reluctant, and it was obviously because he thought she was going to try to talk Mac out of this.

Dick walked over to set the glass of water in front of Mac and another in front of Veronica. He kissed Mac on the head before smiling tightly at Veronica and leaving.

"Mac," Veronica started. "Are you sure about this?"

"You know, somehow I knew that you were going to ask that." Mac replied without really replying.

"Okay, you knew I was going to ask that, but am I going to have to ask it again? Or are you going to stop avoiding?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I mean, we've been spending a lot of time together since last June. And since school started we've been dating without really dating."

"So you've been dating since the beginning of September? And you never told anyone?" She was confused, she would have thought she'd have noticed something like one of her best friends being in a secret relationship.

"No we weren't actually dating, I mean we were but we didn't call it dating. We were going out to dinner and movies and staying in and watching TV on the couch. God, we even did our homework together. It wasn't until last week that I realized he liked me." Mac explained.

"Okay, so you've been officially a couple since last week?"

"No, I realized that he liked me last week. And I realized I liked him back last week, but we still had to talk it out and make sure it wouldn't ruin our friendships and…"

"Oh, you guys do it the responsible way." Veronica said, holding back her laughter. "Logan and I just get into a big fight and then somehow we're making out."

"That's actually how we finally did get together. It was a week of talking and talking and talking and I finally got sick of it and he kept saying he didn't have many actual friends left. Just Logan and now me. So he actually made us do a pros and cons list. Finally I had enough and everyone was downstairs and we were up on the third floor having the millionth conversation about our relationship when I flipped."

"You flipped?" Veronica actually did laugh at that.

"I freak out from time to time." Mac said indignantly before continuing her story. "So I just yelled at him about over-analyzing it to the point of death. And while I was yelling he just walked up and kissed me. And when he was done he just said that he finally found a way to shut me up."

Veronica sat and pondered Mac's story, a smile overtaking her face.

"So I guess asking you what you're thinking is pointless?" Veronica asked.

"Cute surfer boy with hot abs and a good kisser, what's to think about?" Mac answered, pulling her water towards her and taking a long drink. "Damn, I'm hungry."

"Me too." Dick answered from just outside the door, followed closely by "Dammit."

Veronica and Mac just laughed as Dick walked into the kitchen from his spot just outside the door, obviously he'd been listening in.

"How about I make some lunch?" Dick asked, opening the fridge.

"How about somebody who knows how to cook makes some lunch?" Mac said, getting up to help Dick.

Veronica just stood and slipped out of the kitchen, leaving them alone.

* * *

**A/N:**Some LoVe and some MaDi, hope all are happy (or at least most). Remember, feedback is love and sharing is a virtue (or something like that). 


	17. 16 Understanding

**Title: **The Return 16-Understanding

**Rating: **R (swearing)

**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly the first, Logan, Veronica, Piz, Mac, Dick _(mentions of: Duncan, Aaron, Jake Kane and Celeste Kane__LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return  
16  
Understanding

--Lilly--

Logan was not in his room. She had knocked three times and when there was no answer she opened the door, announcing herself as she strode into the room. Looking around at the explosion of clothes on the floor and his things thrown and scattered about, she felt that he might actually be in here. Buried beneath all his crap.

"Logan?" She called, her voice still a little on the quiet side. When there was no response she settled herself on his bed, making herself comfortable as she waited. Veronica had said that he was waiting up here for her. _So where is he?_

Picking a novel up from the bedside table, she read the first few lines. It wasn't something she'd normally find in Logan's room. Wasn't really a book she thought he'd read. _Must be a school thing._

She was about seven pages in when the door opened and in walked Logan, wearing only a towel around his waist. It took a few seconds, but she noted the exact moment he saw her. He stopped abruptly and his hands flew to where the towel was knotted, making sure it was secure and he was still unexposed.

"You don't knock?" His voice was snide, a little angry. She was starting to get the impression that he _wasn't_ expecting her.

"I did. About a million times, you weren't in here." Lilly replied, completely at ease and not showing any of the anxiety she felt over this. _I'm going to kill a certain little blonde._

"Well I'm in here now, and I'm telling you to get out." Logan walked towards his dresser, clutching the towel, making sure it stayed in place.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't want to harm your delicate sensibilities. But I do need to talk to you."

"I don't give a fuck. I'm practically naked here Lilly, and you are _so_ not my girlfriend." Logan threw a nervous glance towards the door, obviously worried what his girlfriend would think if she walked in on this scene. Lilly on the bed and him practically in the buff. "You need to leave."

"Okay, I'll go outside while you dress, but I'll be back." Lilly sprung off the bed, eager to get out so he could dress. The faster he was dressed, the sooner they'd talk and the quicker this was fixed and she wouldn't have to talk about it ever again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

It took him a lot longer to dress than she had expected, but then again, finding clothes in the disaster of that room would take a while.

"So, you wanted to _talk_?" Logan asked, opening his bedroom door and making to leave. Lilly pushed him back into the room and shut the door. "What the hell, Lilly?"

"I want to do this a little more privately than what is currently available downstairs." She explained, crossing the room again to settle back on the bed.

"Okay. You're a bitch and I don't want anything to do with you. How's that? You've been around for a week now and have already jeopardized the most important relationship in my life, twice. At least. You've caused more drama in the last week than there's been in months." Logan took a deep breath and released it, she could tell that he was getting worked up. He was getting angrier and angrier and trying to control it. He was trying not to yell.

"You know, there was a time when I was the most important relationship in your life. There was a time when this push and pull fighting thing, well, you got off on it. The back and forth, the fighting and making up." Lilly pointed out, knowing it would just push his anger further.

"You know Lilly. You're right, there was a time when you were pretty damn important, but there was never a time when I enjoyed the break ups and make ups. Not when I knew what you were doing when we were together, and that it was probably worse when we were 'broken up'. The making up part was fun, until I realized that's all we were. A series of breakups, followed by a hot makeup which lasted about a day." His voice was rising, he was starting to reach that point that always meant he was about to lose his tenuous hold on his anger. Always meant he'd start yelling any minute.

"Oh, poor baby. I fucked with your head. Get over it. It was years ago." Lilly said callously, getting up off the bed now to face him. She was shorter than he was, but she looked him straight in the face.

"I'm glad you can be so fucking cavalier about all this. About the way you treated everyone. Treated _me_. Because fucking with my head was the least of it, there were other things you fucked that you should have left alone." Logan was yelling now, his dark eyes angry and turbulent. "You know my mom always said you were trouble, that I shouldn't have… She never liked you, always pushed for the breakups and was disappointed by the make ups. That should have been clue number one."

"What should have been clue number one, Logan, was that I was a bitch. God, you're so dumb sometimes." Lilly broke in, unable to stop herself from adding her own opinion, even though that's what she'd been resolved to do. Have a big yelling match with Logan, let him get all his issues out and then after his purging he almost always dropped it.

"Yeah, it really should have been. It's funny what blinding lust can do huh? How much you can forget to see when the girl is taking off her clothes." Lilly's head snapped back at that one, she felt almost as if she'd been slapped. There was no mention of love. He had always said that it was love that blinded him, now he was citing it all as lust. The taking off of the clothes comment, it was crude and just this side of vulgar. He'd never spoken that way about her, not to her face at least. She knew he had called her a slut and a whore behind her back when they were broken up and he was pissed, but never _to_ her.

"Yeah, well you never complained."

"I'm complaining now." He bit out, the tension coming off him nearly making the air around him vibrate. He was still holding back. This wasn't the worst of it and that thought made Lilly pause.

His temper had worsened as he had gotten older, but his control over it had apparently gotten better. In the old days he never would have held back. Logan didn't just take it, he lashed out first with the intent of mortally wounding his enemy.

"Too late. Statute of limitations was up on that one when I got my just desserts. The moment your daddy bashed my head in was the moment any punishment you could dole out became obsolete. I lost four years Logan, and everyone changed and your complaints are nothing to me now."

Logan stood there, mouth agape and eyes widened in shock. She knew it would end here, her having to admit that she screwed up beyond repair and that she'd deserved Aaron's treatment for what she'd done.

"You didn't deserve that, Lilly." His voice was quiet, and he seemed to be speaking against his will, probably trying to decide if she really had deserved the near death experience or not. Most likely his inner dialog had decided she had, but his conscience-the one that probably sounded a lot like Veronica-had firmly been against that, she was still a victim.

"On some level I did though, right? I got myself into a mess I had no business getting into. I pushed and pushed and didn't know when to stop and in the end I got what was coming to me." Lilly responded quietly, collapsing on the end of his bed again. She'd saved her energy for this all morning, knew the big confrontation was coming where she'd have to take responsibility. She'd saved energy for it, but now it was all sapped and she just felt like walking out of this room and going back to bed. Sleeping until it all went away.

But she'd learned from experience that that didn't work. You can't go to sleep and expect to wake up and everything was fixed. She slept for four years, enough time to let everything settle down and fade away and fix itself. Instead she'd woken up to bigger problems, everything she'd done before hadn't faded away but gotten bigger and meaner and harder.

"No, you shouldn't have been in that situation, you didn't have any right getting involved in it. But in the end you were only sixteen and da–_Aaron_ was well into his forties and knew better. You were sixteen and stupid, we all were at sixteen. You just were a little dumber than most, took things a little further." Logan corrected, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Wow. You've really grown up, haven't you? This almost sounds like forgiveness." Lilly said, leaning her head against his shoulder. She was so tired. So tired of confrontations and yelling and fighting and the drama that was her life.

_The drama that you're making_, an inner voice corrected. And it was right. Their lives looked drama-free now, like they'd grown out of the high school stuff. Now their lives were all about college and new friends and new experiences. She was the one stuck in high school still, and she was dragging everyone back to it.

"It's not forgiveness, that will still take some more time, but it's a little bit of understanding. The man was charming, even I have to admit that. He charmed half the world into thinking his movies were good, charmed them into giving him an Oscar. He beat me all my life but charmed the world into thinking he was perfect father. The perfect family man actually, even though he cheated on my mom with everything that moved." Logan turned his head to look over at her before continuing. "It's not hard to imagine that he could seduce an insecure sixteen year old girl."

"You of all people should know that there was nothing I was insecure about." She picked her head up off his shoulder and stared at him, shocked. Shocked that he seemed to be able to see right though her now, with a couple years more on him he was wise.

"Come on Lilly, everything you did? I get it, your parents were all about Duncan being perfect and you being the screw up." Stopping briefly to direct a well aimed smirk at her then add with the perfect amount of sarcasm: "You just wanted to be loved."

"My daddy issues that obvious?"

"A little, but that's okay. Because all I wanted was Jake's approval back then. He was the perfect dad, and mine hated me and yours took a personal interest."

"I think that maybe I should spend a little time away from you guys, get some distance. Grow up a bit, figure out who _I_ am as an adult, as a person." She told him, laying her head back down on his shoulder. They might have been a horrible couple, fought all the time, but once upon a time they'd been friends who talked.

"If you need time and space, for you, that's fine. Just don't do it because of Veronica and I, because we had space and time, four years of it. And you know, your friends are what shapes you, helps you become who you're supposed to be. It's okay to be around us, Lil. You're _allowed_ to have friends while you figure it out." Logan told her. "you just can't try and stir up trouble like this anymore. You can't pit us against each other."

"I know! You see? I didn't mean to… the first time. What if this is something I can't control, what if this is who I am?" Lilly asked, worriedly looking up at Logan's profile before he turned his face to her.

"Lilly, if homicidal psychopath isn't genetically ingrained in _me_, the manipulative ice bitch hasn't been passed on to you." Logan smiled at her, and she felt like this was almost forgiveness again.

"But what if it is?" She asked again, still worried.

"Then practice at not doing it. And if it's a learned habit, then stop. Don't do it anymore, break yourself of the habit." Logan got up off the bed and walked towards the door. He was half way there before he turned around to face her. "If you don't stop. If you keep on being the way you were and doing what you have been doing, you aren't going to have any friends. I can't be your friend if you're constantly starting a fight, and I will refuse to be a friend if you attack Veronica like you did yesterday. And I'll never speak to you again if you ever cause problems between her and I again, if you ever pull the stunt you pulled in the kitchen."

Logan walked out of his room, leaving her sitting there on the bed staring at the open door and the space he'd been a moment ago.

Suddenly, Lilly felt _really_ bad for finishing off his cereal.

* * *

--Logan--

He finds Veronica in the living room, pretending to listen to Piz talk as she really reads a book. _Pride and Prejudice_. He remembers it being in the bookshelves, one of Trina's school assignments that his mother loved. His mom had bought a copy for every house they've ever had.

"Hey," Veronica was visibly startled at the sound of his voice, proving that she'd been ignoring Piz the entire time.

"Hey." Piz returned, glancing up at Logan before turning to Veronica. "Don't you agree?"

"What?" Veronica looked from Piz to Logan and then back to Piz's face again. Logan tampered down on the urge to laugh, she looked so lost with her big eyes and her mouth fallen slightly open. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Do you agree?" Piz asked again, looking at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry Piz, I wasn't paying attention. What was it?" Veronica asked, not really looking at all sorry that she'd missed the conversation.

"Nevermind." Piz said, brushing off the subject and picking up his guitar magazine that he had obviously been reading before Veronica came in and he'd stopped to talk.

Veronica stood and Logan followed her out into the hallway, towards the kitchen. Thoughts of the kitchen and food made his stomach growl.

"Was that your stomach?" Veronica asked, chuckling as she looked back at him over her shoulder.

"What do you expect? It's after two and I had a… _busy_ morning." He told her, coming up quickly behind her to wrap his arms around her waist and nuzzle his nose into the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and perfume.

They burst into the kitchen, giggling and laughing. Logan immediately let her go, his hands staying on her hips a moment to make sure she had her balance. He had no doubt she'd come straight down and devoured half the kitchen.

"Hey," Mac greeted through a mouth full of food, turning around in her chair at the table.

"Sup?" Dick called out from his position next to her.

"Hey, so you guys want to go out and do something today? Like a hike or something?" Logan asked, ignoring the weirdness of seeing his friend and Veronica's friend practically cuddling over lunch.

Lilly walked into the kitchen with the nonchalance of someone who _wasn't_ engaged in a yelling match as recently as ten minutes ago. She just walked in, smiled and nodded at Veronica and took a seat on the other side of Dick, looking around the table as if she lost something.

"Has anyone seen my book?" She asked, leaning back in her chair to peer at the countertops, as if she'd somehow missed it on her way in.

"Your book? _Pride and Prejudice_?" Veronica asked, sitting down next to Mac and looking at the other blonde girl with curiosity and just a hint of concern.

At Lilly's nod to the affirmative, Veronica continued, "I was wondering how that got in here. I took it back in the living room, it's on the coffee table."

Lilly just nodded her acceptance of that, but made no effort to get up and retrieve the book. Logan shook his head in his own confusion at Lilly's sudden interest in reading the classics and continued on his search for food.

Logan searched the cabinet in which his cereal was normally kept before he noticed a red cardboard corner sticking out of the trash can. Logan walked over and lifted it out of the trash, examining the box before turning back to the others in the kitchen.

"What happened to my Lucky Charms?" he asked, his voice closely resembling a child's whine.

Lilly rolled her eyes and left the room as Mac, Dick and Veronica merely shook their heads and stared at him.

"I don't get my cereal today? That's not fair, apparently everyone else got it." Logan dropped the empty box back into the trash, turning woeful eyes on Veronica. "Baby, they ate my cereal."

"Yeah, and you're not five." Veronica informed him. Logan simply took a deep breath and sighed so pathetically that Veronica gave in. "Okay, how about I make you pancakes?"

Logan grinned. "That'll do."

* * *

**A/N:** There will be a Duncan/Veornica confrontation coming up soon, and it'll explain why there hasn't much one-on-one interaction so far. In truth, I've been avoiding it a little because I don't want to write him into SymmetryDuncan, because they're _very_ different characters. 


	18. 17 Piggyback

**Title: **The Return 17-Piggyback

**Rating: **R (swearing)

**Characters/Pairings:** Veronica, Weevil, Logan, Mac, Dick _(mentions of: Duncan, Wallace, Lilly the first) __LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections/sentences in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** This chapter is full of LoVe and MaDi, so enjoy. The Duncan/Veronica confrontation is coming up soon. To be honest, I'm still avoiding it a little.

* * *

The Return  
17  
Piggyback

--Veronica--

Veronica walked out the back door onto the back patio that led down to the pool deck. Logan was currently devouring his pancakes and therefore occupied. She walked over to where Weevil sat on a lounge, shivering but trying not to show it.

"If you're so cold, why are you out here?" She asked, sitting on the lounge next to his.

"It's better than in there, with all the yelling and all the drama. You and Echolls back together?" Weevil asked, sparing a glance back to the house and in the general direction of Logan and all the 'drama'.

"Yeah, what about it?" She was instantly defensive, Weevil had never been too pleased with the idea of her and Logan.

"Nothing." Weevil grinned. "Just wondering."

"What? What are you so happy about?" Veronica asked, her voice rising in irritation. She did not like feeling like the butt of some joke. It was too much like high school, everyone laughing at her and no one willing to let her in on the joke.

"Hey! What's wrong with you?" Logan called from the back door she had just come out of only a couple minutes earlier.

"What do you mean?" Veronica yelled back, still irritated and now a little confused as to why he was yelling at her. _This better not be a jealousy thing._

"It's like, thirty degrees out here and you don't even have a coat on. Do you _want_ to get sick?" Logan said coming closer with her coat in one hand, his in the other.

"Wow, that didn't take long, did it?" Weevil asked, looking back and forth between Logan and Veronica.

"What?" Veronica asked, her brow furrowing in confusion to what he was talking about. She felt Logan behind her, wrapping her coat around her shoulders.

"Nothing, just you got him in line pretty fast." Weevil turned his head to look straight in front of him, staring at the pool like he had been when she came out.

"How's tricks, Weevs?" Logan asked, obviously trying to be nice, an effort for her. He knew how she hated their macho pissing contest crap, but she could see the muscles in his neck straining from him clenching his jaw. This wasn't easy for him.

"Well, I'm stuck up here with a bunch of people I have nothing to do with. V is the only one I can stand. I don't even know Pick and Parker, but they won't leave me alone. Never hung with Duncan. Wallace hates me… still. And I hate you and Dick. And Lilly." Weevil gave her and Logan a sickeningly sweet smile, barely holding back his disgust.

"That's nice." Logan was out of conversation topics, and other than the weather, there was nothing else they could talk about. Veronica began to panic, there was a very good chance one of them was going to say something stupid and it would come to blows.

"You haven't even spoke to Lilly?" Veronica asked, keeping the interaction from turning violent.

"Well, we argued a bit last night." Weevil offered up, instead of just answering a simple yes or no.

"So you've spoken? Any chance of forgiveness?" Veronica asked, more than a little disappointed when Weevil shook his head the negative.

"Not really. I tend not to dole out the second chances to girls that drive me completely crazy with their stupidity." Weevil leaned back into the chair and Veronica watched as a shiver ran through him, one he apparently couldn't suppress.

"It's okay, man. You can join the Lilly-drives-us-crazy club." Logan offered, wrapping his arms around Veronica's waist as he settled in behind her.

"Can I be president?" Weevil asked, his eyebrow rising with the question.

"Nope. I'm president, Ronnie is the VP. You can be the secretary, that's still open, but you should act fast because we're offering a position to Donut later." Logan squeezed her, pulling her closer in the act and she felt his head through the back of her coat. It really was kind of cold out here.

"V is the _Vice_ President? Number two? How'd you manage to convince her of that?" Weevil asked.

"President is only a figure head, the VP is the one that does all the actual work. Logan just gets the flashy title and the faux importance, I'm the one that holds all the power." Veronica answered, cuddling into Logan to ward off the chill.

"Yeah, well, I'm not much for clubs. But if you insist, I'll take treasurer. I'm good with the whole money thing." Weevil told her before turning to stare at the pool again.

"You got it, Paco. Veronica come on, we have to change into something warmer before we go. I'm not hiking in a t-shirt in thirty degree weather." Logan stood and started walking towards the house.

"It's fifty degrees out Logan, and it'll probably warm up a little more." Veronica corrected, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her coat. "And I'll be right there."

"Okay." Logan called out just before he slipped into the house.

"We're going on a hike with Mac and Dick. Wanna come?" Veronica said, turning her attention back onto Weevil.

"No, I'm not one for fifth-wheeling it on a double date." Weevil replied, turning to look her in the eye.

"Seriously though, you have to talk to Lilly." Weevil opened his mouth to protest. "Think of it this way, if you don't talk to her she'll never have a chance to beg you for forgiveness. Right?" Veronica told him as she stood.

"I guess. Her apology isn't going to make a difference, though." Weevil replied, shrugging and returning his attention to the pool.

Veronica just shook her head and headed back inside.

* * *

--Dick--

"Do we really have to go for a hike?" Dick whined as he pulled a sweatshirt over his green t-shirt begrudgingly, he hated layers.

"Dick, you're the one who said, and I quote, "that would be so cool man"." Mac said as she dug through her bag for something warmer than what she had on.

"Yeah, well I thought Logan was doing that thing." Dick said as he flopped back on the bed, the impact caused several items to dislodge from the bookcase headboard onto the mattress.

"What thing?" Mac asked, stopping her search to look disapprovingly at him. He was going to break something if he kept doing that.

"That thing where he suggests we go out and do something healthy like hiking but we just end up staying in and playing video games or something." Dick flung his arms over his face, covering his eyes and mouth, effectively muffling his words.

"Well, he's pretty excited about it, and he's bundling up as we speak." Mac triumphantly pulled a black sweatshirt out of her bag and held it in the air for a moment before tugging it over her head.

"It's like twenty degrees out, babe. It's completely impractical to go hiking now." Dick told her, sitting up to look her in the eye.

"Okay, two things. Impractical? That's a mighty big word for you, hon, when did you start saying stuff like that?" She propped her hands her hips as she took a couple steps closer to the bed.

"Just because I don't use words like that all the time doesn't mean I don't know them. I just like to keep things simple, you know that." Dick defended himself.

"Okay. Two, it's not twenty degrees. It's at least fifty and I'm sure it'll warm up a little bit more while we're out there. Besides, exercise keeps you warm." Mac told him, leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek.

Dick reached out to her, attempting to wrap his arms around her waist. But she was too quick, she quickly turned around and bounced out of the room.

"Dammit." Dick muttered under his breath. He hated hiking. Not that he'd ever really done it before, but it was cold out and all he wanted to do is stay inside and make out with his girlfriend.

"Dick! Hurry your ass up, we're getting ready to go!" Logan called down from what Dick assumed was the ground floor.

With one final groan, Dick pushed himself up off the bed and trudged to the door.

He was cold and tired already.

--

Dick bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet, waiting for the others to catch up.

"I win!" He called back to them, cupping his hands around his mouth to make it louder in a silly attempt to make them feel like they were even further behind than they really were.

"I wasn't aware we were racing." Veronica mumbled as she walked closer, obviously thinking he couldn't hear her as the comment was directed at Logan.

"Dick, we're like, five feet behind you. Why are you yelling?" Logan asked, completely exasperated with his best friend. He reached out and grabbed Veronica's hand, tugging her closer.

"If you guys could keep up I wouldn't have to yell. And it's _always _a race, Ronnie." Dick stopped bouncing as Mac came up beside him and laid a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Chill out, Dick. You're going to run out of energy and then how will you get back to the house?" Mac advised, running her hand from his shoulder to his hand, her hand skimmed his arm on the way down, causing goosebumps to rise under his sweatshirt even though he was more than warm enough.

"Okay, I'll slow down." Dick complied, leaning forward to kiss her as he gripped her hand a little tighter.

"God, Dick, what's the hurry? It's not like we're actually _going_ anywhere." Logan muttered as he and Veronica pulled up beside them.

"Whatever. Come on, Logan. I'll race you to the top of the hill." Dick shouted, letting go of Mac's hand and turning to run up the slight incline of the hill.

"Fuck." He heard Logan mutter under his breath, but the echoing sound of feet pounding against ground behind him. Coming up fast.

"Dick! I told you to chill out." Mac yelled.

"Veronica!" Dick heard Logan shout out as he saw a flash of blonde hair whiz past him and up the hill. He was nearly to the top when he realized that the person with the wide, victorious grin on their face wasn't Logan. It was Veronica.

"I don't remember calling your name for the race." Dick commented as he huffed up to the top, looking over his shoulder at Mac and Logan making their way up the hill.

"Yeah, when has that ever stopped me from doing anything? Anyway, what was it? A boys only race?" Veronica said, plopping down on the ground.

"So you got all sister suffragette and had to prove whatever boys can do, you can do better?" Dick asked, sitting down next to her as they waited for their respective significant others.

"Mostly I just wanted to kick your ass. And when did you start using words like that? Do you even know what you're talking about?" Veronica asked, looking over at him.

"I'm not a complete idiot, you know?" Dick countered, a little more offended that she was the second person today to say that.

"But sometimes you are." Veronica said softly to him, a small smirk lighting up her face and making him think that she'd definitely hung out with Logan too much. Dick could tell that she was teasing, that this was light and fun teasing that held no malice. This is what it used to feel like with her, the light and easy friendship. Before Lilly Kane nearly died and she was sweet and perfect Veronica Mars that never said anything mean or hurtful.

"Come on you guys, you're slow as molasses!" Veronica shouted out to Mac and Logan, effectively ending the moment between them.

"Slow as molasses? Really Ronnie?" Logan asked as he made it to the top and flopped next to his girlfriend. Mac sat gently next to Dick, so gently that he barely noticed.

"Aren't you the one that said 'swell' when Veronica started running?" Mac questioned, leaning her head on Dick's shoulder.

"No, I believe I said 'fuck this is just swell'. The profanity counteracts the fifties lingo, it's a known fact." Logan corrected, pushing up off the ground and holding his hand out to help Veronica up. "We should get going."

"No. I'm too tired." Veronica whined, refusing the help for only a moment before accepting.

"Yeah, come on." Mac agreed with Logan, standing without help before turning to look at Dick expectantly, waiting for him to get up as well.

"Can't we nap first?" Dick asked, laying down in the grass.

* * *

--Logan--

"I told him to take it slow, that he was going to lose all his energy and wouldn't make it back to the house. Did he listen? Nooooo!" Mac groused as she and Logan walked side beside a good twenty feet in front of Dick and Veronica.

"When has Dick ever listened to common sense?" Logan asked, pretending to think back, searching for a time. "Oh right. Never."

"Well, at least he's not alone back there." Mac said, laughing a little as she looked back over her shoulder at her best friend and boyfriend shuffling tiredly behind them.

"You know, she's usually so level-headed. Add that on top of her desire to avoid Dick at all costs and you'd have thought she would have taken it slow." Logan told her, leaning closer as if sharing some secret.

"That's a good point." Mac agreed, glancing over her shoulder once more.

"So, what's this I hear about a bet?" Logan asked, deciding to forgo the small talk and skip right to the juicy stuff.

"What do you mean? What bet?" Mac's voice had jumped to a higher pitch, and she was talking fast, wouldn't look him in the eye. All the telltale signs of avoidance and lying, everything Veronica ever taught him about reading people put to use right here.

"Yeah, what bet, like you don't know. The hook up bet." Logan glanced over at Mac, she was gnawing her bottom lip, another sign of avoidance.

"Who told you about that?" Mac asked, no longer avoiding, but not ready to give full disclosure.

"Dick might have let it slip while you went to change and I was finishing breakfast. It was just the two of us in the kitchen. Ronnie was out with Weevil and he said that Weevil must be pretty stoked about winning the bet. I asked what bet and he said the hook up bet you all had. So again, Macky, I ask: what bet?" Logan explained.

"Okay, I thought there'd be a fight before there'd be a hook up but Dick disagreed and suddenly we were all betting on who would be the first to hook up." Mac confessed, her head hanging in shame or rather an attempt to ward off what she surely knew would be his next question.

"Who did everybody bet on?" Logan asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Well, Weevil won the money for betting on you and Veronica getting back together. Dick bet that Lilly and her would hook up though, something about a limo ride and homecoming, I don't know. Wallace and I both put our money on Duncan and Veronica though, and I threw you and Lilly in." At Logan's look of shock, she added: "I didn't want you to be alone."

"Why would you—" Logan began, only to be cut off by Mac.

"I don't know, because Veronica and Duncan, well… they're, they're each other's something that I don't understand. Not that I have ever understood what you and she are either, just that it's different and more intense and she tends to try to not be and… well, I mean—" Mac stuttered through her explanation, unable to fully express what she had thought at the time. _Stupid Dick, of course he'd tell his man-crush._

"It's okay Mac, I don't really care what everybody's bet was. I don't really care that I helped Weevil win. Veronica and I are back together and I'm good. I don't have to fake that I'm fine being just friends anymore, and that in and of itself is a relief." Logan interrupted, releasing Mac from her stuttering explanation.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Mac asked, still unsure about the way Logan just brushed off the whole bet thing.

"Yeah." Logan looked over at Mac and then back into the distance at the house, a grin spreading across his face. "Race you to the house."

* * *

--Veronica--

"Don't run. Save your energy." Veronica mocked, lower her voice into a faux deep husky one, trying to imitate Logan's baritone. "Yeah right, look at them now. Racing."

"I'd try to catch up, but I think I'd pass out." Dick sighed, throwing his arm over Veronica's shoulders, but careful not to lean on her. For that Veronica was grateful, in her exhaustion she wouldn't be able to even pretend to hold him up.

"It's pretty sad, but I'm pretty sure if I tried I'd do that wheezing thing that old people do." Veronica laughed at the thought of it, she was going to be eighty years old and her and Logan would be wheezing up the stairs to their house. Probably yelling at each other in between wheezes.

"Hey, you don't think that you'd ever want to hook up with Lilly do you?" Dick asked suddenly, causing her to stop walking completely.

"What?"

"I mean, I heard all about that little girl-on-girl make out in the limo during sophomore homecoming, the private party none of _us_ were invited to. Any chance of a repeat?" Dick asked, disclosing more information than he probably meant to on the only possible informant of that little event. _Logan._

"We were playing truth or dare and Logan dared Lilly to kiss someone in the limo. He knew she wouldn't kiss Duncan, because it's way grosser than anything Lilly would ever do. And illegal. But he also figure that she would kiss me, innocent little Veronica, and her only choice was him. It was cute, him basically daring her to kiss him, her boyfriend. Lilly thought that option too easy and just kissed me, once. No tongue. We did _not_ make out, and I'm pretty much going to kill Logan for telling you about that." Veronica explained, not really upset over the fact that Logan had told Dick about it.

"Don't worry, Ronnie. He told me about that night he got drunk because Lilly dumped him over that Yolanda thing. It wasn't a big deal. And I'm not really asking for you and Lilly to put on a show, just curious." Dick looked off at Logan and Mac, they were even further ahead now, almost home. Veronica started walking again, it only took a couple steps for Dick catch up with her. Damn her short legs.

"I'm not worried, its just that…" Veronica's faded out, looking at Dick and trying to hold in her laughter.

"It's just that what?" Dick asked, prompting her to continue.

"Well, its just that you're such a freaking perv." Veronica finished, giving Dick a playful shove to his shoulder, causing him to stumble a little to the right before straightening up again.

"Yeah, but its part of my charm." Dick told her, pretending to grab on to the lapels of an invisible suit jacket and straighten them while lifting his chin a bit, looking a little more dignified. If anything else, Veronica had to admit that Dick had the definite 09er look to him. Dignified surfer boy. Worked in the boardroom and on the beach, give him a few years and he'd be just serious enough to pull it off. After all he was a business major and was taking a lot of Econ classes.

Dick glanced over at her and stopped, his left hand wrapping around her right wrist. Veronica looked back at him, only one step ahead.

"What?" She asked, tilting her head to the left in confusion.

"You want a ride?" Dick asked, still not letting go of her wrist.

"_What_?" Veronica asked again, shocked.

"You want a ride back to the house? You look even more tired than me, you have to take two steps for every one of mine. It's like you're running just to keep up." Dick pointed out.

It was true. She was extremely tired. She'd had a pretty busy day yesterday, followed by an even busier night. And this morning had been enough to exhaust anyone, but with the hike and the race and the walk back added on top of it all she felt like she could just curl up in the grass and sleep.

"Like a piggyback ride?" Veronica asked, stepping a little closer to Dick.

"Yeah, you don't look like you weigh much." Dick replied, nodding.

"Okay, turn around."

Dick turned his back to her and crouched down a little, letting her hop on his back. He hooked his arms under her knees to keep her in place as she wrapped her arms around his neck it what would most likely become a chokehold in the event of an emergency.

Veronica leaned forward a little as he stood to his full height. "If you drop me, I'll kill you."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't want to incur your wrath. Or Logan's." Dick told her as he started walking to the house.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what do you think? I've been having a little bit of writers block on this story lately, I think it's because it was all coming so easy for a while there. I'm a little nervous about this particular chapter because of the block, not sure if why, I'm just nervous about it. So remember, feedback is LoVe.


	19. 18 Sinners

**Title: **The Return 18-Sinners

**Rating: **NC-17 (sexual situations, swearing, and some underage sex)

**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly the first, Weevil, Aaron Echolls, Veronica, Logan, Dick, Mac, Duncan i _(mentions of: Lynn Echolls, Trina Echolls, Kane Parents, Kendal Casablancas, Big Dick Casablancas, Jackie Cook, Wallace) Lilly/Weevil, Lilly/Aaron, LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections/sentences in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** There's a section in italics that is a fantasy sequence, it's pretty obvious, but just in case it confuses anyone, it doesn't really happen, it's Lilly's fantasy.

**A/N: **There's a flashback scene that involves Lilly/Aaron and if that makes you squeamish, you can skip right past it. But I have to warn that it's pretty graphic.

* * *

The Return  
18  
Sinners

--Lilly--

Lilly spotted Eli laying on a lounge next to the pool. _Now there's a sight._ It wasn't like he was in a pair of swimming trunks and shirtless, it was October after all. But she'd never seen out in the broad daylight like this when they had 'dated'. They were all clandestine meetings and under the bleachers rendezvous'.

Marching up to him, she stopped at his side, waiting for him to look up at her. When he didn't, she had to resist the urge to stomp her foot in frustration. Instead she continued on with the speech she had been practicing since her earlier conversation with Veronica.

"Just so you know, you were never a toy. I didn't think of you as one in high school, and I certainly don't think of you as one now." Lilly told him, letting the raw honesty of it slip into her voice.

"Great, now go away." Eli told her in a gruff voice without looking up at her, his eyes remaining closed.

Lilly frowned, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. There was never a time that she could recall that she hadn't caused _some kind_ of reaction. But Eli wasn't biting, he wouldn't even argue with her so she could do that thing that seemed to work so well for Veronica. The 'accidentally' shouting out the truth thing.

"What?" Lilly's voice came out as a squeak, just verging on whine territory.

"What do you mean _what_? It's not rocket science Lil, you turn and walk away from me, best if you just go in the house." Eli looked up at her now, squinting a little at the sun that was currently behind her.

Lilly again resisted stamping her foot, instead she dropped down to sit on the lounge next to Eli.

"You're not even going to say _anything_?" Lilly pushed, still hoping for some latent feelings to surface, bursting into some passionate display of affection and angst.

"_Oh, Lilly. I know I was never your toy. I always knew we'd be together in the end and I love you just as much now as I did then. Please, be with me?" Eli said as he gripped her waist and pulled her to him, settling her on his lap. She could feel exactly how excited he was that she was here. That she was awake, and he'd been in a near constant state of arousal since he first saw her nearly a week ago._

"_Fucking finally. I thought that maybe there was something in the water, but of course no one could resist _this_ for too long." Lilly said, avoiding answering his question as she moved to straddle him._

"_Lilly?" Eli said, looking questioningly at her before he was overcome with pleasure and groaned as she ground her hips into his errectio—_

"Lilly!" Eli said louder, and she felt his arm tug beneath her hand and nails. She had somehow drifted into a place that was definitely not reality–more like a romance novel–and in the process grabbed his arm and started to dig her nails in.

"What the hell Lilly? Have you gone completely loco?" Eli asked, annoyed and still trying to reclaim his arm from her.

Lilly lifted her fingers first, seeing the little half moon shapes left by her nails. Lifting her entire hand Eli pulled his arm back like he'd been burned.

_In all reality Lilly, he has been. A few times._ Lilly accidentally let the look of pity slip onto her face as she thought about how she had treated him in the past. She really had been horrible.

"What the fuck is that look all about? You feel sorry for _me_?" Eli's voice had gotten even harder, rougher, in a matter of moments. Lilly shrunk back against the lounge a little. He was angry, probably because of the pity look, and suddenly she was feeling threatened and trapped, like she was in danger. The last time she'd felt this way, the last time she'd gotten herself in a situation where she was alone with a man and she'd made him angry he had gotten dangerous and reckless and… _murderous_.

Not good, at all.

Eli stood up to his full height, which was only about an inch or two more than hers, but with her still on the lounge he towered over her by nearly eighteen inches.

"I don't need your pity, Lilly. Out of the two of us, I'm not the one that needs any pity. You're the one that fucked up and got put in a coma." Eli yelled at her, getting her attention and sparking her anger enough to make her forget her fear.

"Yeah, I fucked up. But I didn't mean for that one little mistake to get so big. The coma wasn't my screw up, the pissing Aaron off was. Aaron going all psycho and homicidal was his mistake." Lilly shouted back at him, standing up to get in his face.

"Yeah, but would that have happened if you didn't think it would be fun to fuck your best boy's daddy?" Eli wasn't yelling this time, but his question was aimed to hurt her more the last.

And it did. It felt like a punch to the gut. No, it wouldn't have ever happened if she'd stuck to unmarried non-famous guys her age that didn't secretly tape their exploits. But she hadn't really thought it would be fun when she had embarked on this little affair of hers.

----------------------------FLASHBACK----------------------------

She'd gone over to Logan's house to drop off a box of his stuff. It didn't really matter, he probably had completely forgotten she had anything of his. Theirs was not a relationship in which the other got a drawer. But if she didn't drop off the stuff she would have wasted two hours of scratching CDs and bleaching clothes and cutting up pictures. It was a little more 'wronged woman' than she usually dealt with, but it sent a message: You don't cheat on Lilly Kane. Her second plan of attack involved keys and his precious XTerra's paint job.

But then Mr. Echolls had come down, obviously thinking he was alone since he was completely naked. Lilly had been an Aaron Echolls fan before they had moved to Neptune, but that had pretty much ended the moment she'd watched him drunkenly grope about every waitress, parking attendant and any other help of every single one of the parties thrown by every single member of the 09er community. Still, the man did look good naked, a nice preview of future-Logan? If he didn't develop a gut after all the drinking and trips to TJ.

Lilly had actually blushed and stuttered through an apology, saying that she didn't think anyone was home. Mr. Echolls had agreed with her, he hadn't thought anyone was there either, just him. Mrs. Echolls was at a spa in LA for the next couple of days and Logan was off with his friends for then next few days. Aaron actually tried to make small talk while he stood in the middle of the kitchen with her. In the buff.

"I heard you and Logan broke up. I'm sorry we're not going to see you around the house anymore." Mr. Echolls said, moving a little closer.

Lilly bit her bottom lip and nodded, trying desperately not to let her eyes drift down and stare at his obviously aroused state.

"Especially in those little bikinis." _Aaron _took another couple steps closer, he stopped being 'Mr. Echolls' when he was standing less than a foot away, completely naked and so completely obvious about the fact that he was thinking about throwing you against a wall and fucking the shit out of you.

"Mr. Echolls." Lilly's voice was much bolder, much more seductive than she'd meant it. She watched _Aaron's_ eyes darken and his pupils dilate, he shifted again and she could feel his erection press against her stomach.

"Its _Aaron_." He didn't allow her to say anything else before he kissed her. The thrill she got was unlike any other jolt she'd ever gotten from any other stunt she'd pulled before. This would piss her mother off more than staying out all night. More than her fucking a biker ever would.

Lilly felt a pang at the thought of Eli. She really had cared about him, thought she might even start things up with him again after this recent break up with Logan. Maybe even take things public.

The thought, and the pang, were quickly pushed away as Aaron lifted her on to the counter, his mouth on her neck and his hands under her skirt, pulling off her panties.

They fucked right there on the kitchen counter, where Logan ate his morning pop tarts and drank his after school juice. The counter where she'd often seen Lynn reading a magazine and Trina doing her nails while on the phone. The counter she'd sat at with Veronica last week and planned out their trip for Fleet Week while Logan attempted to talk Letty into making them a snack.

The did it again in the pool house, at Aaron's insistence. And when she left she promised to come back in a couple days, taking the box she'd come to drop off with her.

Fucking his dad was better revenge than bleaching clothes and vandalizing CDs ever would be. Not that she'd ever let Logan, or anyone else, know about this.

No way in hell.

----------------------------END OF FLASHBACK----------------------------

She'd found out why he was so insistent about the pool house a couple days later, and in one moment of stupidity she'd lost four years of her life. She'd never actually planned on selling the tapes, just wanted to put the threat out there. It was blackmail and she had intended on using it to her advantage.

Like Aaron quit beating Logan or she'd take it to the tabloids. Or he buy her a plane or a house in France or something. She'd never take it to the tabloids, not when it could destroy Logan. They were broken up but she'd always thought of him as her family. Her parents were never there for her like they were for Duncan. She was the mistake. The first pancake. The practice kid that they screwed up before they got to the perfect one, precious little Donut.

Logan, Veronica and Duncan were her family, the one she'd chosen. She loved them like you love family. It was true, she hurt Logan. Often. But she'd never do such irreparable damage as letting him_ see_ her screwing his dad. She had just hoped he'd never find out.

That had been a shit plan. Like Veronica had told her that first night: Secrets _always_ come out.

"It wasn't for _fun_. And I didn't actually sit around and think of ways to screw you and Logan over, it just happened." Lilly was practically screaming at him now.

"I don't buy it. You don't just _let_ things happen, you initiate them. I should know, I was one of your _things_." Eli wasn't yelling anymore, but his cold and snide voice were just as scary.

"Well, you don't have to _buy it_, I'm giving this one away for free. I didn't go there searching for a fuck and a starring role in homemade porn." Lilly's voice had quieted, but it still held note of hysteria that was making her panic even more.

"It's too bad, the sex tapes really do wonders for the career in Hollywood these days Lil. You just missed the boat. Too bad V found the tapes and handed them over to the cops, you really could get a good career started. You're quite the actress." Eli raised an eyebrow at her, almost daring her to slap him.

"I don't know why I'm getting so upset, you're just the boy that likes to play man with his little motorcycle gang." Lilly tried a different tactic, break him down a little and she might be able to get past his tough exterior to the sweet and vulnerable guy she'd once known.

"And you're just the girl that got left behind by everyone she loved. Funny about that huh? You're just a tad more pathetic than the poor Mexican." Eli smirked, a very jackass move that reminded her so much of Logan it made her want to hit him.

But the comment had hit it's mark so well that she was left speechless as she watched him leave her, standing alone in the cold by the pool, leaves whirling in the wind at her feet.

Lilly wished for the millionth time this week that she hadn't so actively sought drama in the years before her coma. It made this reintroduction into society and the land of the living so much hard.

_Fuck drama_.

* * *

--Veronica--

"It's about damn time," Logan called out from his place at the top of the front steps. He was seated next to Mac drinking a bottle of water.

Veronica bounced almost painfully on Dick's back, he'd gotten a little careless as they'd gotten closer to the house and she'd had to 'chokehold' him once or twice.

Still, it had been fun. Dick told her funny stories about his summer with Mac and she'd told him the one funny thing that had happened during her internship. They'd actually been laughing when they got to the front yard.

"You guys have fun on your walk back?" Mac asked, pushing up from the steps.

"Yeah, we didn't kill each other so I take that as a good sign." Veronica answered as Dick released her legs and crouched down a little so she could safely slide to the ground.

"I see that, looks like you're getting along pretty well actually. Almost like you don't hate each other." Logan agreed, getting up himself to walk over to where Dick and Veronica were now standing with Mac.

"She was practically running to keep up, man. I was just being chivalrous." Dick announced, preening in front of his best friend and his girlfriend.

"So who won your race?" Veronica asked, looking at Logan and Mac.

"We decided to call it a draw since we'd been aiming for the porch and practically collapsed as soon as we hit actual grass. I think I may have overestimated the distance." Logan said, slinging an arm around Veronica's shoulders and pulling her closer.

"We were going to run to the store, pick up something for dinner and some more Lucky Charms. You want to come?" Mac announced, looking at Dick.

"Sure, just let me take the sweatshirt off. I'll be right back." Dick pecked a light kiss onto Mac's lips before dashing inside.

"How about you? You want to come?" Logan asked, nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck and inhaling.

"I think I'll stay here, take a bubble bath and wash the dirt off. And I smell." At Logan's frown she quickly added, "You go, maybe I'll still be in the bath when you get back."

Logan's eyes lit up as he lifted his head to look at her, and a wide grin spread quickly across his face.

"It's a plan." Logan told her, leaning forward to give her a long, sweet kiss just before Dick came bounding out of the house.

"Come on, stop sucking face and lets _go_." Dick urged, walking quickly to Logan's Range Rover and getting in the passenger seat. "Girls in the back."

Logan pressed one more, chaste, kiss to her lips and loped off to his car.

"Ronnie, come _on_." Dick urged, rolling down the window to put his arm out and wave her over.

"She's not coming." Veronica heard Logan say as he started the engine and began rolling the window up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Veronica bounced through the foyer, and into the kitchen to grab a soda to drink in the tub. _But if Logan gets home…_ Veronica changed tactics and pulled open the glass door of the chilled wine cabinet. She pulled a sweet blush wine from the rack and set on the counter. Turning to retrieve a pair of champagne flutes she spotted Duncan in the doorway, causing her to jump a little.

"Ohmygod Duncan, you scared me." Veronica breathed out, pressing her left hand to her chest as her right one gripped onto the counter.

Forgetting the glasses and the wine and the thought of something to drink altogether, she moved to brush past Duncan.

"I'll see you." She muttered as she flattened herself against to the wall to avoid touching him at all.

"Forgot your wine." Duncan pointed out, moving to give her a little more room.

"Oh. Right." Veronica said flatly, and hurriedly grabbed the bottle and moved to leave again.

"Don't you need a glass?" Duncan asked.

"Oh, yeah." Her voice was still toneless as she set the bottle back down on the counter. "Actually, I think I'm going to pass on the wine after all."

"Why are you avoiding me?" Duncan asked, his voice so vulnerable and small it made him sound like a little boy.

"I'm not avoiding you." Veronica lied. She had been avoiding him like she was being paid for it.

"Yes you are. We haven't been alone in a room since you all got here. I've talked to you with Logan there, and Lilly there. I've talked to you when it's the four of us, but never when it was just us. I've had some one on one time with both Logan and Lilly, but you seem to avoid it like you don't even want to see me." Duncan pointed out.

Veronica remained silent, clearly frustrating Duncan.

"What's the problem here, Veronica?" Duncan pushed. "Is it Lilly? The way I left, the fact that Clarence didn't come to you when I was ready to come back? It this about my daughter? What?"

"Yeah, well if I'd known…" Veronica purposely let herself trail off, the sarcasm in the statement more than evident.

"You know, I'm a little sick of the passive aggressive shots Veronica. Why don't you just say what you really want to say." Duncan said with a hard edge to his voice, pushing her.

"If I'd known you'd knocked Meg up I would have thrown that fortune cookie back in your face. If I'd known that you basically slept with her and then broke up with her I would have tasered your ass, not gone back to you." Veronica didn't need any more permission than that to let loose. She'd been wanting to say these things since senior year of high school, she finally had the chance.

"Nice, but after you found out she was pregnant, you didn't dump me." Duncan fired back, his voice rising.

"No. I was still in too much shock to do that. You see, I just found out, but you had already known." She paused, took a breath and then continued. "Of course I forgot, it didn't have anything to do with us, with you and me, so I obviously didn't need to know."

"You _didn't_ need to know." Duncan insisted, his voice still rising as he advanced on her a little.

Veronica wanted to back up, but refused to show that much weakness, so she held her ground and prayed that he wouldn't have an episode.

"Stop acting like I betrayed you in some way. God. I didn't tell you because I honestly didn't think you'd care that much." Duncan continued.

"You don't think that was a betrayal? You knew you were going to have a baby with your comatose ex-girlfriend and you didn't even think I had the right to know that you'd had sex with someone other than me. Do you know how dangerous that is, Duncan? And you don't think I would have cared that my boyfriend was about to become a daddy? That I wouldn't care that another one of my friends was pregnant?" Veronica's voice was getting colder, and angrier.

"Oh please. You stepped out of our relationship long before anything about the pregnancy came out." Duncan accused, his eyes narrowing into angry slits.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Veronica took a step back in shock. She'd never thought Duncan would ever accuse her of cheating.

"Just that whenever Logan was around you turned into this girl. You showed off, with the bantering and the arguing and the flaunting our relationship when he was around. And when Kendal was there, you were the picture of a jealous girlfriend. You hated Kendal, but why?" Duncan questioned, his eyes trained on her face, watching her for signs of a lie.

"Because she was a bitch and cheated on her husband—" Veronica started, only to be interrupted by Duncan.

"Like you've ever given a fuck about Big Dick Casablancas. I say that's all bullshit. You never cared about Kendal, didn't even know she existed, until you found out she was fucking Logan. Then it was all out war."

Veronica opened her mouth to argue, to tell him that she hated everyone that cheated as a rule.

"Same with Jackie Cook. You didn't like her when she was over to watch Pride and Prejudice with us and Wallace. You didn't like her when she was going after Wallace. But the second she went after Logan you went ballistic, got physical. I saw how tightly you grabbed her at homecoming. I thought I was going to have to hold you back from a fight." Duncan shook his head. "Here you and I were having this moment and all you saw was Logan.

"You know for one moment I thought we might actually be free to be together. That the cloud of Logan was no longer hanging over our head. After the bus crash you came to the suite and told me you didn't want to have any regrets. I was a little shocked at first that you came to me, that you hadn't gone to him, so I thought that you'd finally moved on. _Really_ moved on. But right after you got up and left, and I heard you."

"Heard me what?" Veronica asked tightly, she was not pleased to have all this thrown back in her face. It'd been over two years ago now, not exactly something she often thought about these days.

"I heard you and him out in the hallway. Right after we had sex, you were in the hallway talking to Logan. Do you know how much that hurt? How much of a disappointment it was to find out that not sleeping with me really wouldn't be one of your regrets?" Duncan wasn't yelling and wasn't angry, just defeated.

"Probably just about as much as when Logan mentioned that Kendal had been in your room for about an hour after he kicked her out." Veronica offered half-heartedly, but the truth was, looking back on it, it hadn't really hurt all that much. She had been hurt that it was that easy for him to start screwing the same girl Logan had been screwing when he was done with her.

"You don't actually believe that. I know you, you care that your fragile ego got bruised, but you were a little relieved." Duncan countered.

"No I wasn't relieved, Duncan. Quite the opposite really, no one is really relieved when their current boyfriend starts sleeping with the girl their ex rebounded off of. And you're wrong. You don't know me. Not really, not anymore. You know me even less now, after a year and half of not being here." Her voice started to get louder again, she was close to yelling.

"You know what else sucked? That I had to pretend that you were continuously sleeping with her in front of the entire school, and then I had to listen to you yell at me about Meg and the baby. All the while I was cleaning up your mess." Veronica added, her voice quieting, but the cold sarcastic edge creeping into it more and more.

"Oh yeah, well, you're not cleaning up my mess now. I didn't come to you with this and that just kills you doesn't it, Veronica? That I didn't rush to you with my problem, that you weren't the savior this time?" Duncan was getting angry again.

"Yeah, it's a real bummer that I didn't get to figure out all the legal loopholes in order to get you back into the states. Tell me Duncan, how exactly are you only going to end up serving a year for a crime that usually means a twenty to life sentence?" Veronica questioned, advancing on Duncan this time, feeling more confident in the arena.

"What?" Duncan was either stalling for time or genuinely confused, maybe she wasn't clear enough.

"Exactly what are they charging you with? What did it get reduced to that you'll only spend about a year in prison? I know it can't still be a felony kidnapping, because that's a _much_ longer sentence." Veronica tried again.

Duncan was still silent.

"Exactly what I thought. _I_ might not be cleaning up your mess this time, Duncan, but neither are you. You always come off as so responsible, but you're really not. That's what everyone always sees, but you're the one that got a girl pregnant in high school and committed a felony, violated international laws, cheated. You were the stable one and Logan was the bad guy. But who actually committed the crimes he's accused of?

"You don't even know how people are fixing your life, fixing your problems. At least with Logan he was involved, tried to do it himself. You not only weren't involved in the process of getting your ass out of trouble, you don't even know the end result." Rolling her eyes she began to walk out of the kitchen, but Duncan reached out and grabbed her by the elbow, spinning her around to face him again.

"So now I'm the sinner and Logan is the saint?" Duncan questioned, angrier than she'd ever seen him before without going into a epileptic episode. She tugs halfheartedly without successfully pulling her arm out of his grip.

"Maybe you were always a sinner, and Logan was never a saint. But he wasn't _the_ sinner, either." Veronica tugs again, this time she is successful in pulling out of his grasp. She quickly turns and leaves the kitchen before he can debate her on whether or not he's a sinner or grab her again.

It isn't until she reaches the stairs and is on the second step that she remembers her wine, not that she's going to go back and get it. But she hears a crash a moment later and realizes that that particular bottle of wine won't be joining her and Logan in the tub later.

Not when Duncan has smashed the bottle and its contents all over the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N:** So that's the Duncan/Veronica confrontation. And the Lilly/Weevil one. I was on a role with the angsty anger stuff. As usual I'm nervous about it. Feedback is love. 


	20. 19 Drama

**Title: **The Return 19-Drama

**Rating: **R (sexual situations, swearing, and just in case of anything else)

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Wallace, Dick, Mac, Veronica, Parker _(mentions of: Lilly the first, Duncan, Piz, Weevil) LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections/sentences in italics are _thoughts_.

* * *

The Return  
19  
Drama

--Logan--

"Come on, just open the door already." Logan shouted from behind Dick and Mac, juggling his share of the groceries.

"What's the password?" Wallace asked, laughing, from the other side of the front door.

"The password is: Open the damn door, Wallace, before I just drop all this food and beat your ass!" Logan yelled back, getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Can't beat my ass unless you can get in the house." Wallace pointed out, sounding embarrassingly unafraid.

"I've got a key, remember?" Logan replied, trying to adjust the his bags to reach into his pocket for his car keys again.

The front door swung open, revealing a grinning Wallace in a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and socks. "Oddly enough, that was the password."

Wallace reached out and relieved Mac of a good portion of her load.

"Thanks, Wallace." Mac sighed in obvious relief, Logan hadn't realized she'd taken so much out of the back of the Rover.

In a line, all four of the walked to the kitchen, setting their bags on the counter. Digging into the bags, they all began putting the food away. Logan pulled two boxes of Lucky Charms out of one of the bags, grabbing a Sharpie he walked back to the counter and laid them down.

"What are you doing?" Wallace asked, leaning around Logan's side to try and see what he was writing on the cereal boxes.

"I am making it clear which one the moochers can eat out of and which one is mine. The pancakes were good but, but I wanted my cereal." Logan pulled the cap off with his teeth and held it there as he wrote in big black letters on the front of the boxes.

'LOGAN'S CEREAL. DO _NOT_ TOUCH UNDER PAIN OF DEATH!'

'PUBLIC CEREAL.'

"Nice, Logan." Wallace said sarcastically as he took the boxes out of Logan's hands, but Logan wouldn't let go of _his_ box so easily.

"Uh-uh, mine is going in my room. I'm not taking any chances with the people that can't seem to keep their hands off _my_ cereal." Logan said, tugging it out of Wallace's hands and tucking it under his arm. "Now if you will all excuse me, there's a bubble bath upstairs calling my name." Logan turned to the door.

"A bubble bath? That sounds a little gay, Logan." Dick commented, still putting the last of the groceries away while Mac got everything out for dinner.

"Yeah, well this bubble bath comes special with a cute little blonde chick that's promised to call out my name, too." Logan smirked as he walked backwards out the door, waggling his eyebrows a bit at the insinuation.

"Dinner will be done in an hour, hour and a half tops. Make sure you're down here." Mac called out as Logan turned around and walked towards the stairs, his cereal still tucked under his right arm.

"Logan!" Wallace called out, jogging up behind him.

"I thought you were going to help with dinner. I mean after locking us out for ten minutes it is the least you could do. Especially since we bought everyone road trip snacks." Logan pointed out, turning around at the base of the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm gonna help and stuff, but I thought you should know…" Wallace trailed off, looking around as if he didn't want anyone to hear. "There were a couple of fights while you were gone."

"Fights?" Logan questioned, disbelieving. Wallace merely nodded. "Like you threw a punch and hit someone? I doubt that, since everyone left behind is semi-peaceful. Except for Weevil, and unless Piz pissed him off I can't imagine him beating any of the girls or you, not if he didn't want Veronica to kill him."

"No, I mean there were a couple screaming matches. And, oddly enough, one of them did involve Weevil." Wallace corrected.

"And Lilly, right? If there was anyone Weevil could have a screaming match with, it's Lilly." Logan sighed, thinking of Veronica upstairs in the bathtub, waiting for him.

"Yeah, they yelled at each other a bit and in the end, he kind of stormed out. Came through the house like he was on a mission. Went upstairs and got his wallet, when I asked him where he was going he said he was going into town and to mind my own fucking business." Wallace told him, rolling his eyes a little at it. Logan understood completely, Wallace was in the middle of all the drama but not really a part of it.

"Okay, and what happened with Lilly? Is she okay?" Logan asked, a little shocked at the concern he felt over Lilly's wellbeing. Of course, Wallace was telling him this and making him feel more and more like the responsible guy.

"She shrugged it off and played some video games with me and Piz for a while, although I don't think she really likes him all that much. That's not really the fight I wanted to talk to you about though." Wallace suddenly became interested in his shoes at this point. It seemed that Wallace didn't really want to tell him about the fight he wanted to 'talk to him about'.

"Okay, the second fight. Who was that between?" Logan was a little nervous at Wallace's hedging.

"Duncan and Veronica. It got kind of intense, pretty messy. They blamed each other for a lot of things. He accused her of stepping out on him and she accused him of cheating on her with Kendal. Then he said she was relieved about that and she called him selfish or something. I don't know _everything_ they said, could only hear them over the game. But she went upstairs and he threw a bottle of wine across the kitchen and stormed out.

"Piz and I went and cleaned it up while Lilly went upstairs to check on the baby. I don't know exactly where Parker ran off to, she might have been up in her room stud—napping." Wallace reported, accidentally letting it slip that Parker had been studying.

Logan rolled his eyes momentarily at him trying to cover it up, like Logan didn't know that first day when he ran up to get his cell phone and came back a moment too soon and saw them all repacking the luggage. Or when Wallace and Piz went out later that night to get something from the car and circled back to use the back door so Logan couldn't see them bringing everyone's book bags in.

"How's Veronica? As much as she likes to fight with me, she's never really fought with Duncan or Lilly." Logan start slowly up the stairs, waiting for Wallace's response before going all the way up.

"She went upstairs right after, about twenty minutes ago. Haven't heard from her since." Wallace said, starting back towards the kitchen. "Just go up there and make sure she's okay. Okay?"

"Yeah." Logan replied, his response low and probably unheard by Wallace as he took the steps two at a time until he got to the second floor landing.

"Now, which room are you in?" He asked himself under his breath, standing before his own bedroom door but looking at hers. He had a fifty-fifty shot of getting it on the first try. He turned the knob to his own door and pushed it open.

And there she was, sitting on the edge of his bed, looking so sad that it made his own heart ache.

"What's the matter baby?" Logan asked gently, walking to her slowly.

"I want to go home Logan, I don't want to be here anymore." She looked up to him, her eyes filled with tears and her mouth turned down in a little pout. She looked so cute and so sad, he sat on the bed next to her and held out his arms. She snuggled into him and he felt her take a deep breath.

"You want to go home?" Logan asked, a little disappointed at her wanting to end their time together away from her father, but he understood. She'd been so stressed out during this entire trip, worrying about Lilly, avoiding Duncan, playing peacemaker and go-between with all of the different people here. But most of all, she'd been surrounded in drama, and he of all people knew how tiring that could be.

"Neither of us _have_ to be back in classes until Tuesday, that's two days from now. Can we just leaving tomorrow morning, and find a hotel on the way to Neptune and stay there for the rest of the time? We'll just barricade ourselves in the hotel room and we won't come out until we have to." She asked, her hand curling into his stomach to brush against his skin.

He smiled at the touch and the suggestion, it could work. He didn't have any classes that he _had_ to be in until Tuesday afternoon and neither did she, they could get up and head home Tuesday morning.

"You know, if you're serious about this, we could technically stay until Tuesday morning. Neither of us have a class until around two that afternoon. It could work, and I'm definitely up for the alone time." Logan squeezed her a little more tightly to his chest. "You want to tell me about the fight?"

Veronica sighed, a deep sigh that spoke volumes of how much she did _not_ want to discuss 'the fight'.

"He just, he kept pushing, asking me why I was avoiding him. I didn't really want to fight with him, you know. I mean, I know how to fight with you, that's easy. But Duncan is hard to fight with. He's just so passive all the time and then suddenly he's not and he's in your face. But it's always the same problem with him and he never knows what he did wrong. He always thinks he's so completely in the right, that he did the right thing." Veronica leaned back to look at him.

Logan raised an eyebrow, a little shocked that Veronica was pointing out this particular habit of Duncan's. Then again, they say you often hate the qualities in others that remind you of yourself.

"I know, I do the same thing. But deep down, or maybe not even _deep_ down all the time, I know when I'm wrong. I just don't admit it. Duncan, he honestly thinks that not telling me that Meg was pregnant was the right decision, that it was truly none of my business. That him sleeping with Kendall was okay since I apparently was 'relieved' by it, or something. That he was justified in everything he did because I was never truly invested in the relationship." Veronica was getting visibly upset again, at the thought of Duncan's blind naïveté. It annoyed him, too. It always had.

"You'd think I'd be used to it by now, though. Right?" Veronica asked, falling back on the mattress and Logan followed suit.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, turning on his left side lifting his right hand to run his finger tips over her face, caressing in a loving and soothing gesture.

"You'd think I would be used to the way the Kanes justify their actions. The way they think that their way is the right way and they can run all over us in the process. After all, I've been getting screwed over by Jake and Celeste pretty much annually for the last four years and before that I had Lilly to do it." Veronica leaned her face into Logan's palm for a moment before turning onto her own right side in order to face him properly.

"You'd think we would both be used to it then, but I don't think it's something we ever really will get over. You don't get accustomed to the most important people in your life taking advantage and screwing you over. It just never happens, no matter how much you expect them to do it and how prepared you are, it's still a shock every time, somehow." Logan tried to keep himself from sounding too dejected, even though he was pretty sure it didn't work.

If anyone knew about getting screwed over by people, it was him.

"I should know." Logan whispered, his eyes darting away from hers and looking off to a wall in order to avoid her gaze. He felt ashamed, as if he wasn't good enough to love and this just proved. He just admitted that the people that were supposed to love him didn't, what did that say about him?

* * *

--Veronica--

"Logan," she whispered, the sorrow in his voice tearing at her. Logan knew better than anyone that the people that were supposed to love you and swore to always love you didn't always do what they promised. His mom, his dad, Lilly, Duncan and even her at one point had said they loved him and then walked away. Or screwed him over. Lilly and Duncan were good at that.

"It's okay, whatever. I've got you, and that's really all I need. Right?" Logan asked, his voice caring a false tone of happiness. _He's going to brush this under the rug, let it be one of the many things that we never talk about and he never has to face._

"It's not okay. It isn't fine or _whatever _that you got stuck with a rotten deal. Your parents were selfish, and your dad was psychotic. Trina is vapid and self-centered and not worth getting upset about." Logan's eyes finally found their way back to her own, and she wished for a moment that they hadn't The intensity of emotion in them was almost too much to bear, pain, happiness, love, guilt, regret and hurt. Logan was drowning in a sea of emotions and she was the only thing to keep him from being sucked under again.

"Lilly and Duncan were, _are_, a product of Jake and Celeste, two of the most self-centered people in the world. His company is all that matters to Jake. That and his reputation. All he wanted for Duncan was for him to become president one day, but he was too blind to see what a horrible idea that would be. And Lilly? They barely noticed her except when she was acting out and doing things she shouldn't be. Lilly and Duncan had everything in the world at their fingertips and that left them no respect for anyone else."

"You give really good pep talks, you know?" Logan asked, his voice holding that tone of happiness again, but this time it didn't ring as false.

"Sometimes I do, but not usually. I just don't want you thinking that because all these people around you didn't know how to love you, that you couldn't be loved. That you shouldn't be, because that isn't true. You _should_ be loved, and you are." Veronica scooted over the space between on the bed and hooked her arms around the back of his neck. "You know that, _right_?"

* * *

--Logan--

"Yeah," Logan whispered, staring into her eyes and feeling his heart stutter at the sheer _love_ in them. How did he miss that? He had always _believed_ that she loved him, but never really known for sure. He'd asked her if she did and she had replied yes, but without the actual words it had stayed a belief instead of a known fact. But now, looking into her eyes he saw a look that told him she loved him, and he realized that it had always been there, he'd just been too scared to admit it was love. "I do."

Logan's mouth came crashing down on Veronica's a moment later, and she almost immediately pulled away, gasping for air.

"What?" Logan asked, a panic rising in him. _I hurt her. I misread the signs. She's not ready for this right now, after everything that happened today, with Duncan._ "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just…" Veronica's voice cracked, his emotions swirling and confusing and overwhelming, and _oh god_ she was crying.

"What, baby? What's wrong?" Logan was instantly more attentive and worried. She was crying and he'd caused it. He'd kissed her and she'd started crying and this was a first, he'd never experienced anything like the simple act of a kiss causing her to cry. "Just tell me and we'll fix it."

"Nothing is wrong, I just… I don't really know why I'm crying. The day has been so weird and so many things have happened in the last couple of days that I don't really know. I can't seem to catch up with myself, with my emotions and I just… I don't know." Veronica's voice caught and hiccupped and cracked as she cried and buried her head in his chest.

Logan let her cry, holding her until he felt her heaving sobs go from long and hiccupped to short and stuttered. She wasn't crying any longer, but laughing silently into his chest. He held back his own laughs, at least until he knew why she was laughing.

"What are you— Are you _laughing_ now?" Logan's voice was incredulous.

"This is so ridiculous, you know? And I'm crying and you're here comforting me and kissing me and I'm _crying_?" She was almost asking herself, seemingly shocked at herself.

"Well, I was wondering…" Logan played along, his voice light and teasing as he smirked playfully.

"Come here." Veronica looked at him, beckoning him closer. _Beckoning him closer? Now I sound like a freaking romance novel_. He thought to himself as he leaned into her.

Logan's lips pressed against hers, and he reached up with his hand to grasp her chin, forcing it down with his thumb, opening her lips in the process. Veronica giggled at the move and leaned backwards, falling to the mattress, and taking him down with her.

* * *

--Wallace--

"You know, I'm a little peeved that we're making dinner for eleven people and everyone else is upstairs. How is it fair that the three of us are stuck with this?" Wallace griped as he chopped onions. "Logan and V are upstairs, relaxing in a bath tub. No matter how much that disturbs be, that's what they're doing. Duncan and Lilly are in their rooms, wallowing. And I have no idea where Piz and Parker are."

"Ten. And I'm right here." Parker said, coming into the room and picking up a slice of red pepper that sat in a bowl on the counter.

"What? Ten _what_?" Wallace questioned, looking grumpily at her, still intent on throwing a fit that he was cooking. _And _putting up with Dick and Mac, and _Dick and Mac_ and their incessant PDAs. If they 'snuck' one more frigging kiss he was going to going to throw a temper tantrum. Complete with kicking and screaming on the floor.

"Ten people. Weevil still isn't home yet, and I kind of doubt he'll be back for dinner by the sounds of it." Parker told him, leaning over the counter to sneak a couple pea pods while Mac's back was turned. Dick caught her and slapped her hand away, lifting the bowl of fresh vegetables even further out of her reach.

"What do you mean 'by the sounds of it'? When did you talk to Weevil?" Wallace questioned, setting his knife down and swiping at his eyes and the tears that had leaked out the corners.

"A couple of minutes ago, he called the land line from the bar. He hitch hiked into town and decided to go for a few beers." Parker tried to sneak another piece of red pepper before the bowl was moved, but was too late. Mac spied her roommates hand sliding sneakily across the counter towards the bowl, and snatched it up moments before Parker's fingertips reached out to brush the rim. Parker huffed out a frustrated breath of air and leaned back onto the stool she was sitting on, propping her elbows on the counter and cradling her chin in both hands.

"He hitch hiked?" Wallace asked, sliding a few carrot sticks into Parker's hand while Mac's eyes scanned the counter for anything close enough for her to reach. Parker sent him a grateful look before continuing.

"Yeah. He was a little pissed, he said you guys just drove right past him in the rover." Parker bit into the carrot stick with a loud and crisp snap causing Mac's head to whip around so fast that it made Wallace wince. _Someone is either going to whiplash or backhanded_, he thought as he lifted to the knife to at least _pretend _to still be chopping.

"I think those are chopped enough, Wallace. And if you don't stop eating dinner there won't be enough for everyone and you'll be too full to eat." Mac scolded as she reached for the cutting tray that help the pile of chopped onions that Wallace had been working so diligently on.

"How is he gonna get back?" Wallace asked, still curious about Weevil.

"Don't know. Said he might hitch back or something. He said he was at the _Town and Country Bar_, though." Parker was no longer interested in telling Wallace the rest of the story, instead she was trying to give Mac some very Veronica-esque puppy dog eyes, complete with a rather amateur head tilt.

_Looking for table scraps_. Wallace chuckled a little to himself before saying aloud, "After dinner, I think we should go into town and have a couple of beers with good ole Weevil. See what's so great about this _Town and Country Bar_." Wallace now sat, idle, gazing longingly as Mac dumped the bowls of different vegetables into the wok on the stove. His stomach rumbled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"So then they're yelling about something and some chick named Kendal and how relieved she was. And then it's something about him getting out of trouble and not knowing how. She called him a sinner and he called Logan a saint or something, then she stormed out of the kitchen. She stomped all the way to the stairs, thought there was some sort of earthquake. _Then_ Duncan threw something and there was this huge crash and he went storming off too, upstairs. But he went to his room and Veronica was in hers. Or Logan's. I'm not really sure." Parker chattered on, relaying the fight she'd heard between her new friend and Veronica.

Wallace rolled his eyes as she told the story. It was beyond inaccurate and full of plot holes. She'd told a story without telling the actual story.

"How do you know what happened? You were upstairs." Wallace countered, leaning his arms on the counter as he shifted on his stool and watched Mac as she started putting the vegetable stir fry, tofu, rice and the beef that Dick had insisted on frying up, into serving bowls. Dick was behind him and Parker as they sat at the counter, setting the table in a decidedly bizarre picture of domesticity.

"No I wasn't. I was in the living room." Parker countered excitedly, shaking her head wildly.

"No, _I_ was in the living room. With Piz and Lilly. You weren't there." Wallace pointed out.

"No, you were in the living room with all the gaming stuff, I was in the living room with the piano and books, the one without the TV." Parker told him, glancing over her shoulder as Dick started filling water glasses and Mac began placing dishes of food on the table.

"Wallace? Why don't you call everyone down for dinner." Mac said, turning to the counter again to grab more plates of food.

"Sure mom." Wallace chirped, but was off his stool and out of the kitchen before Mac could even swat at him.

Bounding up the stairs, his stomach rumbling again in the anticipation of food, he started yelling out: "Dinner!" Repeatedly.

He saw both Lilly and Duncan poke their heads out of their respective rooms, looking at him quizzically. Piz's voice could barely be heard from one floor up, shouting that he heard and rudely telling Wallace to shut up already.

There were two people who probably hadn't heard him though, since they were insulated by a room and another door. Wallace popped open the door to Veronica's room and saw the door to her bathroom open and the light off, no sound coming from it. To be honest, Wallace hadn't really thought she'd be in her own bathroom. Logan's had a bigger tub.

Wallace bounced the five extra strides to Logan's closed door, excited that he'd finally be able to eat after all the torture of having to watch Mac cook.

Twisting the knob and throwing open the door, Wallace took a step inside and froze.

"OH MY GOD!" His hand slapped over his eyes as he stumbled backwards and slammed into the door jam before launching himself out of the door and nearly falling down the stairs in the process.

He could hear Veronica laughing. Logan too. In fact, Logan was nearly hysterical and the sound of a thump probably meant that he'd fallen off the bed in his delight at the situation.

"Wallace? Wallace!" Veronica was shouting at him as he hurriedly went down the stairs. "Could you at least shut the door?"

Wallace was already down the stairs and pacing at their base, shaking his head and almost convulsively rubbing at his eyes. No matter how much shock therapy he got, he would never get the image of a naked Veronica out of his head.

Or Logan's bare ass.

* * *

**A/N:** Tada! Another chapter. I was hit by the muse earlier this afternoon at work and had a long day to plot it out in my head. I hope its up to par, since I haven't written for this story for a while (and I feel _really_ bad about that, but it's a pretty long chapter... ten pages). I hope everyone likes the last part. It was a joy to write. Remember, feedback is love. 


	21. Mid Story Author's Note

Hello Everyone-

I know it's been forever since my last update (about a month and a half). I've been dealing with a bunch of crazy stuff in my life right now (2 familial deaths, the flu, my mother going on vacation for the first time in years... on her own with her crazy older sister, the distruction of an eighteen year long friendship, a new job, a promotion). The biggest of all these things that I've dealt with, is the fact that I just ended a friendship with a girl I've been friends with since kindergarten and in the ending of this friendship came the separating of our things since we've been roommates for the last four years. I'm not one for change, in fact, I've learned to detest it because it brings such chaos into my life and never seems to signify something good. Plus I'm a Leo and it's in my nature to hate change. And surprises. I _hate_ surprises.

But good news, I've started the new chapter and I hope to be done with it soon so there will be a real update. Sorry for the delay, but rest assured, I have not given up on this story. As some of you may remember the last couple of chapters of Symmetry were delayed quite a bit because I tend to have a little trouble with writer's block when the end of my fic draws near. I also don't like it when things end, I have a bit of an issue with it, so when the fic is going to end I start to stall and dread the end. The end to this isn't _really _close, just coming. It's already going on it's twentieth chapter and I have the ending written, had since the beginning, but now I'm starting to want to change it so I can delay the end for as long as possible.

So, anyways, the next chapter is coming. Soon.


	22. 20 Dinner

**Title: **The Return 20-Dinner

**Rating: **PG-13 (mentions of sexual situations)

**Characters/Pairings:** Wallace, Logan, Veronica, Dick, Mac, Duncan, Lilly the first, Lilly the second, Piz, Parker _(mentions of: Weevil and Celeste Kane) LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections/sentences in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** I don't know if anyone is still reading this or not. If so, I'd like to thank everyone for being patient with me over the course of my writer's block and the ongoing soap-opera that just so happens to be my life.

* * *

The Return  
20  
Dinner

--Wallace--

"What's wrong, Wallace?" Mac asked, piling rice, vegetables and a few chunks of tofu on her plate, giving the plate of beef a little shove towards Dick. "I thought you were _so_ hungry, that you couldn't wait."

"I'm not so hungry anymore. We're still going into town for beers later right? Because I could _really_ use one." Wallace said, his arms crossed protectively across his chest and his eyes cast down, staring at his plate as to avoid eye contact with anyone. He felt like he was blushing, still, as he muttered "or five."

"Wallace…" Veronica began but she didn't continue. A quick glance up and he saw that Logan was biting his bottom lip in order to keep from laughing. Veronica was alternating between staring at her plate, glancing at him and shaking her head at Logan.

"What's going on?" Parker asked, looking back and forth between Wallace and Veronica. "Did you two have a fight?"

"I really don't want to talk about it." Wallace answered, cutting off any explanation Veronica or Logan could give.

"So you guys _did_ have a fight." Piz interjected, sending a glance in Parker's direction. The glance was almost conspiratorial, and it looked like he and Parker had really bonded throughout this trip. "Come on, spill. What was it about?" Piz prodded.

Wallace sent murderous looks at his nosy little roommate. _Why, oh why, couldn't Piz stay out of it and ignore the situation like everyone else? That's how this group survived, doesn't he get that by now?_ Wallace thought as he glanced at everyone else around the table.

Lilly was fine, picking at her food in a birdlike way. She wasn't moping or melancholy following her big fight this afternoon. Of course that probably had something to do with the fact that Weevil wasn't here. Or she'd just gotten over it that fast. Still, when Dick had set the table he had included Weevil, just in case, and she kept glancing at his empty chair between Veronica and Parker.

Duncan was shoveling food into his mouth at an alarming rate, and Wallace predicted that they may have to perform the Heimlich on him at some point this evening. His sister and Logan were placed between him and Veronica, as usual, but it seemed like so much more now. There was tension between them, and everyone could feel it.

"Didn't I just say I didn't want to talk about it?" Wallace asked, a little angrier than he'd meant to.

"Wallace may have… walked in, on something earlier." Logan informed everyone, the laughter evident in his voice.

"Leave him alone, he's been traumatized." Veronica scolded, taking a half hearted swat at Logan's arm. Wallace could hear the laughter in her voice as well. Her comment broke Logan's restraint and he burst out laughing.

"Great. It's a joke now. Perfect." Wallace groused, sinking lower in his chair. Logan and Veronica were undeterred by his upset, continuing on to tell them of how he had walked in on them and forgotten to shut the door in his hasty retreat. Wallace felt his cheeks burn as everyone laughed along.

"Okay, okay. That's enough, you guys." Veronica said loudly, trying to quell the laughter at the table.

Wallace looked up to see her hands out in front of her, flapping up and down, in the universal 'quiet down' motion. The effort would look more sincere if she wasn't grinning, but as he looked around the table he saw that his embarrassment was some sort of ice breaker. Lilly's shoulders were shaking with unsuppressed laughter and she no longer seemed as conscious of herself as she had been before. Duncan was no longer staring at his plate, but laughing and looking around the table.

"What was that about going into town and getting beer?" Veronica asked, cutting through the remaining laughter.

"Wallace wants to go into town and have a few beers with Weevil. He's worried Weevil won't be able to get back." Dick told her through a mouth full of beef and vegetables, a few grains of rice falling out of the corner.

"Okay. And, ew." Veronica replied, making a face as the rice fell to Dick's plate. "Why you so worried about Weevil?"

"I'm not, I just wanted to go into town and have a few beers. I want even more _now_, but we are going to have to pick up Weevil anyway, you know we will." Wallace told his best friend, his tone taking on a rather defensive tone.

"So everyone is going? Who's going to stay with the baby?" Veronica asked, looking around the table. "It's hardly fair that Duncan automatically gets left behind."

Wallace watched as a look passed between Duncan and Veronica. He'd seen the look before, it was one of understanding. They were letting it go.

"I'll stay." Parker volunteered, looking across the table at Duncan and Lilly. Duncan seemed to hesitate, biting his lip in thought, before muttering 'maybe'. Lilly raised an eyebrow, but kept quiet.

"You don't want to go out?" Piz asked, turning all the way to the left in his chair to look directly at her.

"I don't really go out anymore, not since…" Parker trailed off, reaching for her glass of ice water while everyone else at the table busied themselves with something else while trying to look natural.

* * *

--Duncan--

"I don't know. I mean, you haven't known us that long and I've never left Lilly _alone _with anyone else before." Duncan started, glancing furtively at Parker, trying to gage her reaction.

"Duncan? We'll probably leave after you put her to bed and we'll get back before she wakes up in the morning." Wallace told him, standing up and grabbing his nearly full plate.

"Still, I don't know. Veronica? Lilly? Are you guys going?" Duncan asked, looking hopefully at his sister and his ex. If Logan was going, Veronica most likely would go too. And there was no way in hell Lilly was going to stay home.

"Donut. I haven't partied in, oh, about four years. And I'm twenty-one. You think I'm going to stay home and hang out with a toddler? Pass up my first real opportunity to try out this new legalness? I. Don't. Think. So." Lilly asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow as she turned to her left from the waist up, still sitting in her chair next to him.

"Okay, you're going. Veronica?" Duncan asked hopefully, looking at the girl that had been one of his best friends, his girlfriend, his possible sister, his ex-girlfriend, his friend and, most recently, the girl he had a screaming match with only a few hours ago.

"Duncan, come on. Of course I'm going, and you should come too. It kind of sucks that we can't all go, but Parker is offering and you should take her up on it." Veronica looked him directly in the eye before pivoting her head to the right and looking at Parker. "Parker? Have you ever babysat before?"

"Of course I have." Parker answered, sitting up a little straighter in her chair.

"For a child under the age of two?"

"Yes." Parker smiled, glancing in his direction. He didn't mean to doubt her ability to watch Lilly, he just didn't think it was a good idea. If Lilly were to wake up in the middle of the night, if she were upset… how would Parker be able to comfort her when Lilly didn't even _know_ Parker.

"How about a sleeping child? Have you ever cared for one of those?" Veronica asked, giving him a sidelong glance out of the corner of her eye. He knew what she was saying. That he had to let go a little. Especially since someone else was going to be watching her for a full year without him.

"Yes, I have. Obviously." Duncan could tell that she added that part for his benefit. She was sending him a message too. That she could be trusted, truly trusted, with his perfect baby girl.

"Okay. But we're leaving after she's been in bed for at least twenty minutes. If she's going to have a rough night or anything, I can always tell if she wakes up in the first twenty minutes." Duncan gave in. Arguing with Veronica was useless, she was like a little pit bull, she never let up. He didn't know what Parker was like, but he was sure that through her friendship with Veronica she'd at least learned persistence. And it had looked like his sister was about to jump into the fray.

"Donut. You're almost more overprotective than Celeste was of you." Lilly remarked as she got up from the table, removed Little Lilly from her high chair and left the kitchen.

"Lilly! Where are you going?" Veronica shouted after her, leaving the table as well.

"I'm going to go get ready. Coming?" Duncan heard Lilly's faint voice come from the direction of the stairs. And then two pairs of foot steps running up them, followed by the slamming of a door.

"Some things never change, huh?" Logan asked, the right corner of his mouth pulled up in a knowing smirk. Some things never did change. Lilly, unable to turn down a night of partying. Veronica running to get ready with her. If Duncan had to bet, there was a lot of giggling going on upstairs right now.

"Guess not." Duncan replied, beginning to gather his dishes and silverware to take them to the sink.

"Okay," Mac said, bouncing up out of her chair and dragging Dick up with her. "Since it's been decided that Parker is staying home and we're all going out. And Dick, Wallace and I all made dinner. You guys get to clean up. Have fun." With that Mac left the room, her hand wrapped around Dick's wrist, dragging him out with her.

"Oh yeah, a blast." Logan muttered as he stood and started gathering dishes.

"Well, I actually helped, you know, so I don't think I'll be helping. With the clean up. I'm actually going to upstairs and hang out with the girls. I'm not going out, but I should at least get to do the whole 'getting ready bonding thing'. Bye." Parker said, clasping her hands in front of her and backing out of the kitchen.

"Great." Duncan said, pulling open the dish washer and setting the stack of dirty dishes lightly on the bottom rack.

"I don't think that's how you're supposed to do that." Logan said, coming up behind him and handing him another stack of dishes.

"Do you know how to do it? Because I'm open to suggestions here." Duncan asked, turning his head to the left and looking at his friend over his shoulder. Logan merely shrugged before turning back to the table to get more dishes.

After stacking all the dishes into the dishwasher Duncan looked around for soap. Logan looked under the sink, digging around for a moment in search for it as well.

"Do we just use the liquid stuff?" Logan asked, holding up a bottle of green apple scented liquid soap. Duncan shrugged and reached for the bottle, turning it upside down and squeezing it over the dishes. After generously streaking everything in a bright green and adding an apple scent to the room, he turned the bottle upright and set it on the counter.

"How do we turn it on?" Duncan asked, flipping the door shut and looking at the dials.

"I don't know, I always had a housekeeper for this. And I don't even have a kitchen at the Grand. You've been on your own for a while now, shouldn't you know?" Logan asked, squatting down next to him to look at the dials, too.

"No. I had a housekeeper, and when she wasn't there I had Astrid." Duncan answered, glancing over at his friend before standing up. "I say we just leave it. One of the girls will start it."

Logan nodded and headed off towards the stairs. Duncan remembered a time when he, Logan, Veronica and Lilly went out together all the time. He also remembered that it usually had taken Logan just as much time to get ready as either or both of the girls. Grinning, Duncan jogged after him, taking the steps two at a time.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey guys, I know it's been a while and that it's a short chapter. I'm a good part of the way through the next chapter and hopefully there will be not blocks in my quest to finish this. I know how I'm going to end this story, it's the middle parts that holding me up.


	23. 21 Armor

**Title: **The Return 21-Armor

**Rating: **PG-13 (mentions of sexual situations)

**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly the first, Veronica, Lilly the second, Duncan, Logan, Mac, Parker _(mentions of: Weevil, Piz, Dick and Wallace) LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections/sentences in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Happy dance! People are still reading and my muse is still rolling and there's another chapter on the horizon. Now pray work doesn't get crazy again _(Bill Clinton stayed at my hotel on Saturday and you can imagine how hectic that made my department, considering Secret Service and security and my very own personal background check. Plus one of my fellow managers got drunk (like totally wasted) and started to get embarrassing before he got there and we had to make her leave which made it worse.) _or that my family doesn't go completely insane again. Or the rest of the soap opera that is my life stays on hiatus until fall, like all other good prime-time soaps.

* * *

The Return  
21  
Armor

--Lilly--

"This is kind of hard." Lilly said to the room, holding a dress up in front of her in the mirror.

"What is?" Veronica asked distractedly while making funny faces at the baby Lilly on the bed.

"Picking out clothes. Especially when my best friend won't even pay attention. How is a girl supposed to get a girl's opinion when you can't even tear your attention away for a second?" Lilly asked, petulantly. She knew she was being slightly immature-or maybe really immature-but this was a big step for her and Veronica couldn't seem to care less.

"The pink dress is too loud for this little excursion, says that you are heading right back into your partying ways and that you're still sixteen and stupid. The gold dress is too much for a small town bar, unless you're trying for the spoiled brat angle and alienating yourself from everyone else. Which I hope _isn't_ actually your goal tonight. That denim skirt is too short and will invite all kinds of unwanted advances from the toothless bar rat to the over-weight, over-mustached truck driver. I _really_ hope that isn't your goal." Veronica took a deep breath before continuing, never taking her eyes off the baby or stopping the silly faces. "My suggestion is the designer jeans, they're not as pretentious because they're virtually label-less on the outside, and the low-key camisole. But since you're you and that's what I'll probably wear, my next thought would be that very sexy red halter that still leaves quite a bit to imagination in the cleavage department and isn't registered under the national guidelines of trashy."

Lilly turned from the mirror and stared at her best friend with her mouth open in shock.

"Oh, and the strappy black sandals with the wedge heel and the little red bead detailing. Those are cute." With this last suggestion she looked up from the baby and at Lilly. "See? I pay attention."

"That is the most perfectest outfit ever, Veronica Mars." Lilly said as she ran across the room and jumped onto the bed with her 'sister' and her niece.

"Okay, I'm going to run and get my clothes on. Then we'll do makeup, okay?" Veronica said as she slipped off the bed and towards the door.

When the door swung open it reveal a rather amused Duncan with his hand raised up into a fist, ready to knock.

"Can we help you?" Lilly asked in her snotty older sister voice. It felt like old times, like all this past stuff had never happened and they were all fifteen and sixteen years old again. The were in high school and getting ready to go to another weekend party, the four of them.

"Yeah, I came to get Little Lilly so she can have her bath and go to b-e-d. I figure I'll have enough time while you're all getting ready." And just like that, with the mention of his daughter and his responsibilities, the bubble of nostalgia popped. The were all in their early twenties and there were four people she didn't know here that knew Veronica and Logan and Duncan better than she did. And the past four years had happened and she'd missed them.

"Well, hurry up, I'm going to change in a moment and I'd feel better if you weren't here when that happened." Lilly said dismissively, trying not to let the rush of emotions enter her voice. She felt like crying all of a sudden. For the years she'd lost with her friends. For the many times she could have been doing this with Veronica.

Suddenly she realized that Veronica hadn't been able to do this with anyone else since Lilly. That all those times she would have gotten ready to go out with Logan she would have done it alone and giggle free. That she had to get ready for their first date all by herself. Lilly should have been there. And she would have been if it weren't for her own stupidity and rash behavior.

"Yeah, well me too." Duncan hurried into the room to retrieve his daughter and quickly exited. Veronica left as well, closing the door behind her as she went back to her own room to grab the aforementioned jeans and camisole.

Lilly sank into the bed and took deep, calming breaths as she stared blindly ahead of her. All those moments, lost. Forever.

The full weight of what she had lost over the last four years really began to sink in. she'd lost so much. Prom. Graduation. Turning eighteen and twenty-one. Dates and dating and kissing and sex. Veronica and Logan and Duncan. Meg. Lilly didn't really remember much of Meg Manning, nothing in fact, but she wished that she could have gotten to know the girl that mothered Duncan's baby girl. This Wallace guy seemed fun. And Dick didn't seem like so much of an idiot anymore and she had a feeling that this Mac girl was the cause of it. And that made her pretty damn cool, because Dick had always reveled in his idiocy.

With a new sense of determination Lilly walked to her closet and pulled out her label-less jeans and the red halter, she found her strappy, beaded sandals and began dressing for the night.

She'd make up for all those missed opportunities.

* * *

--Logan--

"I helped load the dishwasher. You proud?" Logan asked as he pulled out a green cotton t-shirt from his closet.

"Very." Veronica replied as she stepped closer to him, pulling off her top as she did so.

"So much so that you intend reward me in the dirtiest way possible?" Logan asked, a smirk finding its way onto his face.

"And by 'dirtiest way possible' do you mean putting on my light pink cami or my blue one?" Veronica asked as she reached around him and into the closet, pulling out two silky tank tops with thin straps and lace edging.

"That was just mean." Logan replied, but pointed to the pink one. She replaced the blue one in the closet and took the other of it's hanger. As she pulled the pink silk top on Logan frowned as all of that lovely skin was covered up. "Couldn't we just stay in tonight? Take that bubble bath?"

"No. Lilly is excited about going out and I don't want her to be there alone."

"She won't be. There will be seven other people with her." Logan pointed out as he pulled his dirty shirt off and threw it in the corner of the closet and pulled the clean one on.

"I meant without me. And you. She needs us for support. Plus I don't want to Mac and Dick as the only 'couple' in the group." Veronica explained as she pulled one pair of jeans off and another pair on, giving Logan a quick glimpse of the thong that matched her lacy white bra as she turned her back to him, zipping up the jeans.

Coming up behind her, Logan wrapped his arms around her. "Okay, just as long as you remember one thing."

"What's that?"

"That you're fully allowed to take advantage of my drunken self." Logan said.

And with that Veronica burst out into laughter, pushing Logan down onto the bed before joining him.

* * *

--Mac--

She could hear the laughter as she walked past Logan and Veronica's door, along with Veronica's pleading with Logan to 'stop tickling her'. It made Mac smile to think of badass Veronica Mars being brought down by a simple act of tickling.

She knocked softly on Lilly's door and was a little surprised when Lilly called for her to 'come in' rather than asking who it was.

"I was wondering. Well… this is a little awkward, especially because I don't usually care and its not like anything has really changed with me _dating_ Dick. But I've never, you know, especially with you guys and I remember how the four of you used to be. I just wanted to know—" Mac stammered and stuttered out, trying to avoid the actual reason she was in here, only to be cut off by Lilly.

"You're outfit is cute, the best part about it is that you _own_ it. Not the other way around. You're outfit should fit you and your personality, any other way is just posing. A lot of people don't get that. Like Madison Sinclair. She dresses expensively to impress, and you can tell that she's uncomfortable and playing a part. That's why she'll always be the poor man's queen bee." Lilly explained, sounding amused that Mac was so nervous about asking.

"So it's okay? I mean you won't be embarrassed to be seen with the computer nerd?" Mac asked, only this time she didn't feel nervous or ridiculous. This was a question asked in jest, and Lilly's responding laugh made her feel comfortable enough to take a step or two into the room.

"No. I'm pretty much unembarrassable. It's one of my defining qualities. You can come on in if you want, I don't bite, much." Lilly said, waving vaguely at the rumpled bed behind her and refocusing her attention on the full-length mirror in front of her.

"But when she does bite, it's usually pretty hard." Mac heard Duncan say as he passed by the open door at exactly the right moment.

"And shut the door because the Donut is and always has been a world class eavesdropper." Lilly instructed with more sentimentality in her voice than annoyance.

Mac slid the door shut than ventured over to the extremely comfy looking bed and sat on the edge.

"If you're going to sit on it, _really_ sit on it. Like you mean it, because if you're going to get ready like one of the girls that means really messing up the bed. Besides, Veronica has done most of that work for you." Lilly turned to Mac now, fully dressed. "How do I look?"

Lilly wore a pair of lightly faded jeans-probably designer-that looked like they had seen better days, but somehow she could pull the look off and still look pretty classy. The red halter top wasn't cut so low in front as some of the tops Mac remembered the older girl wearing at school over four years ago. There was a lot of back exposed but it was dusted lightly with a gold shimmer that made her tan skin glow. Mac felt a little envious of that effortlessness that came to Lilly. The ability to pull off any look and still look amazing and mysterious and perfect.

"You look great." Mac finally said as Lilly moved from the full length mirror to the smaller vanity mirror of the dresser.

"The trick is to automatically assume you look fabulous. It's a confidence thing, if you _know _you look great than you do, it shines through. It's like armor." Lilly said as she began applying make up. Within a few minutes she'd finished. Batting her eyelashes she finished the subtly smoky eye make up and smacked her lips. Peach and überglossy.

"Can I do your make up?" Lilly asked, whirling around to face Mac.

The idea of someone else putting make up on her made her want to run from the room. But this was Lilly Kane, queen of their high school and town princess. The girl look flawless all the time. What could it hurt? If she hated it she could wash it off and reapply.

"Sure. But nothing too crazy."

Lilly's face spread into a rather satisfied looking grin. "No problem."

* * *

--Duncan--

Finally, his daughter was bathed and tucked in, her bedtime story read. She was asleep and had been asleep for a good thirty minutes. Duncan headed down to the kitchen to prepare another sippy-cup of very watered down apple juice in case Lilly were to wake up while he was gone.

"Hey." Parker greeted as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey." Duncan glanced at the dish washer, still off, and wondered if he should ask Parker to start it. Then again, that would just prove his spoiled little rich boy image. He decided to leave it, and if anyone asked why he never started it he'd blame it on Logan.

"You guys leaving soon? Because I can't have my party if you're all still here." She was joking. He knew she was joking, but for a split second an image of his daughter being passed around a sea of party goers-crowd surfing-flashed in his head and he felt himself pale.

"I'm kidding Duncan. It's just watered down apple juice and old Freddie Prinze Jr. movies for me tonight." Parker picked up her glass of water and started to head into the kitchen.

"I knew that. I mean, who do you know up here to have a party with? And besides, you wouldn't have one with the baby in the house. Much less let her crowd surf." That last part just seemed to slip out and Duncan silently prayed she wouldn't notice.

"Crowd surfing?" Parker asked, giving him a weird look. One he deserved.

"Nevermind." Duncan waved it off, hoping she'd think it was some weird inside joke between him and Logan or Veronica. Or Lilly. Duncan shook his head and got back to the point. "I trust you."

"No you don't. Not really." Parker corrected, and Duncan had to admire her inability to take the lie at face value, not ignore the truth.

"You're right, I don't. But I'm starting to. And if I live through this experience, maybe I'll be able to start to let go a little."

"You know, if I understand this correctly, you're biggest issue with me as a babysitter is that Lilly doesn't know me. But to my understanding she's known Lilly, your sister, for the same amount of time as she's known me. Same with Veronica and Logan, but you let them watch her while you sleep and stuff. You don't have any problem if they take her." Parker sat down at the counter on one of the tall stools and looked at him expectantly.

Duncan was trying to go easy on her, but she was making it hard. He had to agree with her point, even if it did sound slightly accusatory. The only reason his defenses didn't kick in was the honest curiosity in her voice and the innocent look on her face.

"Because they're family and on some level I feel like Lilly has always known them. Always will. It's natural for me to trust them with her." Duncan replied, felling guilty for making her feel like he didn't trust her. Truth was, he had a hard time trusting in anything or anyone after being on the run for so long. And after having to protect his daughter from so many different things it was hard to trust her being with anyone but his two friends and big sister. The three of them had always had Duncan's back and in the end he always trusted in them without fail, to continue to do so.

Parker smiled at him. Not an accusatory smile or a sad one. She was simpler than that. She didn't read something into everything like Lilly. She didn't automatically assume that it was some sort of personal attack like Logan. And she certainly was suspicious and defensive like Veronica. It was just a smile that seemed to end the conversation as she got up and stepped closer to him.

"You look nice, Duncan. All dressed up."

"Thanks. It's been a while since I've had to dress to go out, but it's still the same. It's still like putting on a mask." Duncan looked down at his dark jeans and brilliant blue button down shirt. An old standard.

"Why is that?" Parker's head tilted a little to the side, making Duncan smile. He wondered if it was a natural instinct of her to do the head tilt or if she'd learned it from Veronica.

"Going out was like doing battle at Neptune High. You went out to show you belong and to dominate the social scene. You didn't just go out to have fun because someone always had an agenda. And you certainly didn't go out and let loose and let everyone see who you were. Because at Neptune High, letting people see who you really were would only destroy you." Duncan explained before turning and walking out of the kitchen.

* * *

--Veronica--

"Should we establish designated drivers now?" Veronica asked, looking around at the many faces of her friends-and Dick-gathered in the foyer of the Echolls Cabin. No matter how nice Dick had been to her lately and how cute he was with Mac, Veronica still couldn't bring herself to think of him as a _friend_. So for now he had his own category. The _Dick_ category.

"And how, pray tell, do we establish that my dear?" Lilly asked from her place on the stairs, she was leaning back on her elbows and her feet sprawled in front of her. Two steps down and to her right was Mac, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. Her hair was loose and her make similar to Lilly's, only just a hint more subtle.

"Draw straws?" Duncan asked, hopefully. Veronica could tell he really hoped that this didn't turn out like every single other time they'd gone out with Logan and Lilly. Where either he or Veronica automatically ended up being the designated drivers.

"How about we do it like we used to?" Logan suggested, looking at her. She remembered how they used to choose. Last one to get their drink lost and forfeited said to drink to one of the other three and then spent the better part of the night tracking one or all of them down. She'd been on the losing end of that arrangement more times than she'd like to admit.

"Actually, I have a better idea." Veronica started. "Lilly, Duncan and Wallace are all exempt from this."

"Why them?" Logan asked indignantly.

"Because Wallace has been traumatized. This is Duncan's one night to relax. And been four years for Lilly, and even if it hadn't there's no way in hell she'd ever stay sober." Veronica explained as she went into the kitchen and came out with a hand full of sticks.

"Are you kidding? We're actually going to draw straws?" Dick asked, staring at her.

"No. We don't have any straws, Dick. These are sticks. And since we're taking two cars there are two short ones for two drivers." Veronica arranged five straws and held them out. "Who wants to go first?"

"I will." Logan volunteered, stepping closer until he was directly in front of her, blocking her face from everyone else. He stared into her eyes and let his index finger hover over one stick, and then another, waiting for her to give him a sign. Finally, with a slight raise of her eyebrow, he landed on one and plucked it out of her hand.

"Remember, keep it to yourself until the end." Veronica said, just in time to stop him from revealing his stick to everyone.

Mac was next, and then Dick. Piz was the last to pick, leaving Veronica with the last stick.

"Okay everyone, lets see it." Veronica commanded and everyone held their stick out for inspection. "Looks like Dick and Piz will be drinking Pepsi all night."

With that Logan swiped up his keys and announced that since he wasn't drunk yet he'd drive there.

As everyone shuffled out of the house, Dick trying desperately to persuade Logan to take his place, Mac grabbed a hold of Veronica's hand and pulled her back.

Logan looked back at Veronica as her hand slipped out of his, his eyes momentarily wide in shock, as if he was scared she'd changed her mind.

"I'll be right there." Veronica assured him and lightly shut the front door to afford Mac the privacy she'd so obviously wanted for this. "What's up?"

"I let Lilly do my make up." Mac blurted out.

"I know. I recognize the style." Veronica said, amused at the fact that Mac seemed a little nervous about it.

"It was kind of fun, and I like I just don't know if I can pull it off the way she can. Does it look okay? Or do I look silly?" Mac asked, and Veronica remembered that feeling. The feeling that what looked good on Lilly wouldn't look good on her.

"It looks great Mac. Lilly wouldn't have done it if it didn't. She's one of those girls with a natural talent for perfectly applying make up. It's her skill. You look hot." With that last assurance Veronica pulled open the front door and stepped outside, pulling Mac out with her. "And you look like you, which is what matters."

* * *

**A/N:** I was on a bit of a roll yesterday and finished this right after I posted chapter 20. I felt that 'Dinner' was a little bit of a filler chapter that sets up a couple of things (some of which are displayed in this chapter and will be in the 'out at the bar' chapters) for future chapters and shows where the general mood is at with a good majority of the characters. I think this chapter furthers storylines a little more and gives a friend pairing previously unseen: Mac/Lilly.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the bit about he dishwasher (I had to include it because a guy friend of mine actually did this last week, not to great extent that he didn't know how to put the dishes in but the liquid soap thing.). I equate it to being in the realm of the silly that the Lucky Charms storyline is in, but it will serve a purpose as well as the cereal did. Oh, and there will be more Lucky Charms. Not in the next couple of chapters, but somewhere in there.

Another thing is, there was a review that mentioned that I'm having some of the characters act _out_ of character. I'd just like to remind everyone that this story is AU (it's right in the summery). In fact I'd also like to point out that in the show, Lilly is dead, so everything about her being alive and interacting with other characters can be considered out of character.


	24. 22 Mingle

**Title: **The Return 22-Mingle

**Rating: **R (mentions of sexual situations and underage drinking)

**Characters/Pairings:** Weevil, OFC, Lilly the first, Veronica, Logan, Parker, Wallace, Piz, Duncan, Mac, Dick _(mentions of: Lilly the second) LoVe and MaDi_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back) Although this is obviously AU and there are alterations to some of the events in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything.

**A/N:** This story was also not originally mine, and I'd like to really stress that in the first two chapters. Anything after that is of my own creation (storyline wise, not the characters or situations mentioned). And sections/sentences in italics are _thoughts_.

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, my life is still pretty hectic and only seems to get worse. I should be able to get another chapter up in the next couple of days though.

* * *

The Return  
22  
Mingle

--Weevil--

He'd stormed out of the house hours ago, so angry that he'd thought seriously about hitching all the way back to Neptune for at least an hour. But, after making it into town and finding the little bar that obviously was not part of the tourism route, he'd realized that that wasn't the answer. No, the answer was so much simpler. Beer and girls. Townie girls. Like the pretty little class-free redhead sitting beside him, chatting his ear off. Their was nothing malicious in her gaze, nothing manipulative in her conversation. She talked wildly about how she was head cheerleader of her high school squad and the prom queen in her last year of high school. Two years ago. She talked about how there was this one waitress at the diner she worked at that was such a bitch and obviously out to get her.

Jessie had never met a millionaire. Never played with actors and bikers and the sons of the rich and famous. She'd probably never spent more than fifty dollars on a dress or twenty bucks on a pair a shoes. She'd never been in a coma or been the victim of an attempted homicide. No, she was the exact opposite of Lilly Kane. _Thank god._ Even her name was less pretentious. Jessie. Ordinary and common. _Just like her. Just like me._

Weevil picked up his draft beer and drained the glass. He eyed her cleavage in the low-cut blue top and thought regretfully how someone else's cleavage was much better. _The only good part about _her_._

"So, tell me more about Neptune. Is it true that a whole bunch of millionaires live there and stuff?" Jessie prodded, leaning against the bar in such a way that it lifted her less than ample bust closer to her neck and making it appear like more. Weevil knew it was a deliberate move, probably a reaction to the fact that she thought she was losing his attention, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate the effort.

"Yeah." Weevil replied, knowing that she probably wouldn't be satisfied with the monosyllabic answer, but he didn't feel the need to elaborate. The mention of the Neptune elite always brought up…

"Didn't Lynn and Aaron Echolls live there?" Jessie's eyes were bright and expectant. She knew damn well that they did, she wanted dirt. _And who better to give it other than the grandson of their former housekeeper? The sometimes romantic rival of their one and only child, Logan?_

"Yep." It was the only reply he could give without delving too deep. The Echolls family were one step away from the Kanes. Everyone knew the story of the poor little daughter of one of America's wealthiest and beloved businessmen, Jake Kane, and how that connected to Aaron Echolls.

"So, was it true? That he tried to kill that girl? The rich one that he had an affair with? And then he tried to kill her best friend when she threatened to expose him?" She had backed up a bit, letting her breasts fall off the counter in her excitement for information. She was too intent now, more interested in the gossip than him now.

"Yeah, I don't know." Weevil replied, turning back to the bar and the guy behind it, motioning his glass for a refill. He'd gotten lucky. A bar that didn't card, even though he had that part covered. He was nearly twenty-one at this point, not far off from the legal drinking age, but Veronica had made him his very own fake a few months ago when he'd found out that she'd done it for the rest of her friends. A shiny new ID making him three years older, courtesy of the only 09er girl he could ever really stand.

Weevil had made up his mind to finish this beer and then start looking for other female opportunities. This one was boring and now way to intent on people he never wanted to talk about in the first place. He'd lie about where he was from with the next one. The bar was pretty full by now, and there were quite a few obvious townie girls here.

Just as he downed his drink and made to slide off his stool he caught the faint notes of two feminine laughs that he recognized. One was loud and a little ostentatious, cute in it's near obnoxiousness. The other was closer to a giggle but with a darker edge that almost verged on being sarcastic. The two laughs really described their owners, the two girls he least wanted to see at this moment. He turned his head slightly, angling it towards the door as it opened into a bright rectangle with several dark human figures in it, blocking out sections of light.

_Well, this isn't going to be fun_, Weevil thought as on booted foot his the floor at the same time that a very expensive sounding pair of heels connected with the linoleum.

* * *

--Parker--

Parker hit the landing at the bottom of the flight of stairs on the main level at a run. The tea kettle had begun whistling loudly, signaling that the water was hot and ready to be taken of the burner. She was afraid it would wake up Lilly, since she'd heard it loud and clear all the way up in her bedroom on the third floor while changing into her yoga pants and Hearst sweatshirt. She pulled her near shoulder length hair back into a ponytail as she jogged down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Forgetting that the metal handle would be hot, Parker grabbed the kettle and nearly dropped it as it burned her hand. Gently setting it down on a cool burner on the stove, she silently swore as she raced to the kitchen sink to run cold water over her throbbing hand.

"Maybe _I'm_ the one that needed a babysitter." Parker muttered to herself as she turned the water off and wrapped a soft, cotton hand towel around her injured hand.

Using the towel as a makeshift potholder, she picked the tea kettle back up and poured the steaming water into her waiting mug. When she had filled the mug three quarters of the way she dropped in the peppermint teabag and began to leave the kitchen. She was nearly to the door when she noticed that the dishwasher had been left slightly ajar, meaning it probably had never been started after dinner. Parker leaned her hip against it gently until she heard it click shut. Reaching down with one hand she pressed the familiar buttons on the machine to start the heavy load cycle.

As she walked out of the kitchen she flipped off the light switch to the sound of water starting to spray into the interior of the dishwasher and the gentle swish of the rotating sprayers. She was already completely distracted by thoughts of her movie choices for the evening and the large bowl of heavily salted and buttered popcorn sitting on the coffee table, waiting for her return.

* * *

--Lilly--

Lilly watched from her place at the giant booth seat-squished between her best friend Veronica and new friend Mac-as Eli flirted with a cheap looking redhead at the bar.

"Do you think that's her natural color?" Lilly asked as she leaned slightly to her right, catching Veronica's attention.

"What are you talking about Lil?" Veronica asked, oblivious to Lilly's preoccupation. Veronica had been fully involved in some weird conversation with Logan, Wallace and the Piss kid. Something about nudity, tape and poles. Normally it was the kind of conversation that would interest her, especially since it sounded rather like Wallace was a stripper on the side, but she'd been focused on something else entirely since they got here.

"Do you think that's her natural color?" Lilly repeated, knowing that Veronica would take the hint and just follow the direction of her stare. "It looks a little fake to me."

"God, Lilly. I don't know. Probably, maybe not." Lilly could practically hear the eye-roll in Veronica's voice. "What does it matter?"

"It doesn't." Lilly said, her voice clipped and slightly angry at the insinuation that it might matter to her whether or not the girl was an authentic red head or not. Or whether or not Eli was actually interested in her. "It's just that, he's so obvious you know?"

"What? Who is obvious?" Veronica asked, sounding both confused and annoyed at the direction this was taking. Lilly could see Logan, who was pressed almost obscenely close to Veronica side even though he had enough room, lean a little closer so he could hear the conversation better.

"Weevil. With his flirting. He has to know that I know he's just trying to make me jealous." Lilly clarified. It was so obvious, why wasn't anyone else getting that? Why couldn't anyone else see exactly how pathetic it was? "I mean, _god_."

"Lilly, I honestly don't think that he's doing this to provoke you or make you jealous." Veronica said, the soothing tone in her voice almost masking the annoyance as she tried to make Lilly calm down.

"No, he is. I should know the signs, acting as if we aren't even here, ignoring our existence." Lilly could tell that her voice was getting a little louder as she spoke, and there was a slight note of hysteria in it. _Hysteria, because now everyone is making me sound like I'm crazy. I'm not jealous_.

"Lilly, he waved to us when we came in. And I went up and spoke to him before we all sat down. He said he'd join us later." Veronica explained slowly, almost like she was talking to her two year old namesake rather than the twenty-one year old version of her.

"Yeah, you know Lilly. I don't think he's really doing it on purpose. It looks like he's just flirting with a hot redhead, natural or not. I don't think it has anything to do with you." Logan said, his voice sounding disinterested, like he was barely indulging her and ready to call her vapid or self centered any moment now. It was his comments that particularly pissed Lilly off, as he knew they would.

"Excuse me. Can you let me out Veronica? I'm getting a little claustrophobic in here, being stuck in the center of the booth." Lilly asked through her teeth, keeping her glare on Logan and off Eli for the moment.

"Lilly…" Veronica started, her voice cautious with the knowledge of Lilly's coming rage.

"No, Veronica, lets just scoot over and let her out. I can see her squirming from here." Logan interrupted, keeping his gaze locked on Lilly's as he slid closer to the edge of the booth seat, taking Veronica with him since his arm was wrapped firmly around her waist.

"Thank you." Lilly muttered, not managing to sound the least bit grateful, as she slid out of the booth and made her way to the other side of the bar. She was nearing the pool tables and outdated jukebox, both things far away from the actual bar, but still in view of it.

_Two can play this game_, Lilly thought to herself as she walked, her back to Eli, but knowing full well that he was staring. After all, who wouldn't.

* * *

--Wallace--

Wallace rolled his eyes as Lilly huffed and stalked away from the table, shaking his head as her angry walk turned into a rather seductive looking strut. Wallace had only been half paying attention to the conversation that Lilly had interrupted his own conversation with-not that he wasn't grateful, they weren't exactly describing one of his finest moments. She seemed rather panicked about Weevil liking someone else. _She seemed rather jealous_, Wallace mentally corrected himself, but he didn't feel like they were close enough yet for him to call her out on it. Veronica and Logan seemed to do just fine doing that themselves.

"Piz, scoot out." Wallace commanded, ripping his-and Piz's-attention away from Lilly.

"What?" Piz asked, a little dazed from everything happening around him. Wallace never asked, but he always assumed that Piz's high school did not have as much drama as Neptune High. He always seemed a little out of it when things went down, and a little confused when everyone around him-well the NHS alums anyway-reacted quickly and somewhat brutally.

"Move. We're going to go have some fun." Wallace shoved Piz closer to the edge of the booth to emphasize his point.

"Yeah, move, I got to get out." Duncan pressed from the other side of Wallace, where he sat wedged between Wallace and Dick.

Wallace took a moment to wonder at how all of them had fit into this booth. True it was a rather large booth, but for it to be able to fit eight people should have been a miracle. But with the fact that Mac and Veronica were practically sitting on their respective boyfriend's laps, it was really more like it fit six people. And now that Lilly had vacated it was down to five. _And when the three of us leave, it'll be down to four, the two couples, to hold down the fort._

Piz slid easily off the torn leather cushioned booth, stumbling a little as he stood and began walking, whether it was from the half a beer or clumsiness while still watching Lilly's ass out of the corner of his eye, Wallace didn't know.

"We're going to go play darts." Wallace announced, dragging Piz off towards the area that was apparently reserved for bar games.

"This kind of sucks." Wallace huffed once they got out of earshot of the others. "Between Lilly's Miss Jealousy act, Duncan bouncing up and down in his seat, all nervous and the two most PDA couples on the planet… well, it just sucks."

"Lilly isn't so bad." Piz mumbled, leaning backwards to catch a glimpse at the blonde girl flirting with three different guys at the pool tables.

"That's just because you think she's hot. And you only think she's hot because she is probably no where near interested in you, since that seems to be your type. She's a wreck, and getting involved with her really is just asking for trouble." Wallace said as he handed three darts to Piz.

"Who said I wanted to get involved with her?" Piz asked indignantly.

"Anyways, I think it's probably best if you don't get yourself too immersed in the drama of Neptune High School. Or the drama of the Kanes-Echolls-Mars foursome. Or the Lilly/Weevil thing. Actually, I think if you just limit yourself with your interactions with everyone, you'll be better off." Wallace continued as if Piz hadn't spoke. He was getting more and more pissed off about the mess that was this bar trip by the moment. He had just wanted to let off some steam after the day he had. After the things he'd seen. And here he was, fully immersed in some 'why-doesn't-he-like-me' thing.

"Dude! Why did you bring me along if you didn't want me to interact with anyone? Why did you drag me on this trip saying that it would be good for me? I told you. The only people I'm friends with here are you and Parker, basically. That Weevil guy and me were kind of getting along earlier, you know. We had a whole conversation without him threatening me. Veronica and I talked this morning, Logan isn't sending me death glares. Lilly acts if I don't exist most of the time, but she seems okay. And yeah, she's hot and seems to be a lot of drama and I don't think that I would ever really get involved with her, because I don't think she's gonna be that interested, but she seems kind of cool when you get past all the crap and stuff. I mean, she seems a little lost and Duncan and I had some moments where he seemed, you know, okay…"

"PIZ! You're rambling." Wallace interrupted, an amused grin on his face. Piz's rambling had broken his tension, cracked his bad mood and now he saw exactly how funny the situation really was.

"Sorry." Piz apologized, looking a little sheepish as he stood there, clutching his darts.

"It fine. It's actually kind of funny when you think about it. And it's kind of like we're all back in high school again. A bizarre version of high school where Mac and Dick date and Logan and Veronica aren't at each other's throats, but high school none the less." Wallace conceded, turning to throw his first dart at the target.

"This is what high school was like for you? All this drama? Damn, the biggest drama at my high school was when the captain of the football team asked one of the girls in drama to prom instead of one of the cheerleaders." Piz replied, turning to watch as Wallace's second dart hit the target.

"No. This is relatively calm, no where near as much drama as my actual high school experience. And nobody has been murdered yet, so that's a plus." Wallace threw his last dart with a chuckle. "No reporters lurking, so it's definitely not high school."

"There were reporters?" Piz asked, astonished, as he prepared to throw. "Like everyday?"

"Pretty much. But honestly, are you shocked? Look at who I went to high school with." Wallace glanced over at their booth and then to Lilly at the pool tables, and Duncan hiding out in a hallway while covertly dialing his cell phone, listening as Piz fired off three quick successive shots.

"Damn!" Piz had gotten a bulls-eye and the other two were dangerously close. "You didn't tell me you were good at this."

"Never came up."

Wallace glanced up and around the bar, a grin forming on his face. "Hey, I'll bet you I can get more phone numbers than you can."

"What?" Piz asked, he had stepped up to pull the darts out of the electronic target board. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're in a bar in a town where nobody knows us. There are a lot of girls here and the bar seems to be filling up a little more. I will bet you one month of all dorm room chores that I can get more phone numbers than you." Wallace raised an eyebrow in challenge as he picked up his beer bottle.

"You're on." Piz

* * *

--Parker--

"Duncan, everything is fine." Parker reassured her rather concerned sounding friend while balancing her cell phone between her ear and shoulder and reaching for her popcorn as she lifted the remote to mute the television.

"Really?" Duncan asked from the other end of the line. He didn't sound like he believed her. Parker rolled her eyes.

"Yes, everything is perfect. You having fun?" She meant for the question to distract him, and hopefully make him end the phone call and get back to the fun.

"Yeah. What are you doing?" Apparently that was not going to happen.

"Well I'm worshipping Satan in my yoga pants while eating popcorn and watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live. Obviously." Parker let her voice take on the same sarcastic lilt that she often heard in Veronica's.

"Okay. But what is Lilly doing?" Duncan asked persistently, apparently he was so used to the sarcasm from Veronica and Logan that it did nothing to phase him now.

"She's sleeping, just like she was sleeping when you left. And when you called from the car and again when you guys got there." Parker set the remote down and used her free hand to hold the phone to her ear. This was not going to be quick conversation. "Duncan, you've called three times in the last forty-five minutes. I know this may come as a shock, but I babysat all the time in high school."

"Okay, well, call if anything goes wrong. If she starts crying or something. Will you check on her right now? Make sure she's okay?" Duncan asked pleadingly.

"Sure, I'll check on her right after I get off the phone." Parker assured indulgently even though she had no intention of going up there again. She'd just gotten back downstairs, after checking on her for the fifth time since Duncan and everyone else had left.

"No, do it now. I'll stay on the line." Duncan insisted, either guessing at her duplicity or maybe now he was just _trying_ to be annoying.

"Fine." Parker spat out through her teeth, she was trying desperately to be patient, but Duncan's over-concerned parent thing was wearing thin on her nerves.

As Parker walked out into the foyer towards the stairs she caught the faint whiff of green apples. _Hmmm… I don't remember there being an air freshener before_, she thought to herself as she began to run up the stairs, taking them two at a time, Duncan quiet on the end, _for once_.

* * *

--Piz--

It was his third girl, but only the first number he'd been successful in getting. Piz was getting a little frustrated as he made his way back to the booth where Logan and Dick sat, keeping score with Mac and Veronica looking on. Piz couldn't tell whether Veronica was amused or annoyed. She seemed to have a sarcastic look of disapproval on her face at the moment, but that could just be due to whatever conversation was going on between a very animated Dick and Logan.

Piz dropped the slip of paper with ten digits and _Brandy's_ name written in a very bubbly and girlish scrawl. It was even in pink, a pen she'd pulled out of her own purse when he'd ended up being completely unprepared. The paper fluttered a bit before landing somewhat in front of Logan, but closer to Veronica. Piz let a sigh of frustration leak out before he caught himself.

"Brandy, hmm?" Veronica asked, her neck craned at an angle to see the writing more clearly. She didn't sound annoyed or disapproving or anything. It definitely sounded like she thought it was funny. "Sounds fun. And blonde."

Logan looked up at Piz as he slid the paper off the table and into the empty red plastic keg cup that had his name written on it. Piz looked over at the blue cup next to Dick, the one with Wallace's name written on it. It was a quick glance, he didn't dare look inside. He'd seen Wallace get at least three numbers already and they'd only been at it for twenty minutes.

"How many?" Piz asked, his worry unmistakable in his voice. A month worth of chores was a lot, especially considering that he and Wallace were not the cleanest guys around. _I wonder if it includes laundry?_ Piz thought nervously.

"Four." Logan said, he voice almost sounding a little apologetic. "He got another one just before you came over here."

Piz let his shoulders sag a little bit before he had to turn around and get back to it. This whole competition had seemed like fun, but now that he realized that Wallace had actual game it kind of sucked a little. _Unless he's actually telling the girls what's going on._ Piz thought for a moment, glancing had his roommate while he chatted up a fifth girl. _Does he make _any_ small talk at all?_

"Can I offer you a bit of advice?" Logan asked hesitantly. Piz looked up to see him glance anxiously at Veronica before continuing. "I mean, if you don't mind."

_He actually seems like he doesn't want to offend me._ Piz thought before nodding his head dumbly. Logan had Veronica. He'd had Parker. And before that he'd apparently had Lilly, which, after spending a few days with her, seemed almost like it would be more work than getting Veronica. _So if Logan offers advice, then it has to be good._

"You're making too much of a one-on-one effort. Too much small talk when you're kind of pressed for time. This is an instance where you shoot off an obvious line and almost pray it will really work, just this once." Logan said, shaking his head as he glanced first to Veronica and then to Dick. "Don't do that. That wasn't the advice."

Logan glanced at Dick briefly and let his eyes flicker up and wander to where Duncan stood, talking to a pretty blonde, and then back to Dick. It was almost like he was asking for permission or agreement. Dick tilted his head back in a nod then jerked his chin in Piz's general direction. Apparently whatever Logan had wanted from Dick, he'd gotten it.

"Okay, here's the advice. Now, its top secret material that and its almost a violation of the code to discuss it with in front of the girls, but I'm going to." Logan glanced seriously at Veronica and Mac before turning the seriousness back onto Piz. "Take them in groups."

"That won't work." Mac interrupted, snorting in disbelief at Logan's-and apparently Dick's-pick up schemes.

"No, it works." Veronica said with a slight eye roll, like she knew first hand and found it annoying.

"Yeah, it does. Because the girls take it like a challenge too. You flirt with them all and then the first second they can get they'll slip you their number on the sly, so the other girls don't see. Then, when you call they rub it in the other girls' noses, like they won." Logan elaborated, defending the technique.

"But how do I flirt with them all?" Piz asked, confused but liking the plan.

"A 'shy smile'." Logan said, grinning as he used the air quotes. "Don't overdo it because they can tell whether it fake or not, but it'll make it look like you're giving it effort. And don't just smile at one or the other, because it looks like you've singled them out and when you do it to the next girl they'll catch on real quick. You just giving a little smile and then let your eyes sweep over them all. You're not obviously singling one out, but they'll all think it's for them."

"And don't let you eyes linger on one of their faces for too long. Dead give away." Dick offered enthusiastically.

"You guys are total jerks." Mac said, sounding a little disgusted with her boyfriend and his best friend. "Seriously, total asses."

"Yeah, well wait till you hear this one then." Logan muttered before motioning to Dick.

"Well, if the group thing ain't working, go for the ugly ones. They're always just a little more desperate than the rest and a little more grateful when you as for their numbers. But they usually travel in packs too. But if you get their numbers and you don't ever plan to call make sure you mark 'em, so if you keep any numbers it's not those and you don't make mistakes." Dick sat back against the back of the booth, looking marginally pleased with himself.

Mac just rolled her eyes and shook her head. Veronica didn't look the least bit disturbed by the behavior, making Piz realize that she really was used to it. She had been friends with these guys since they were young and she was accustomed to these things. The messed up ways they looked at picking up girls and the fact that this information comes from them making a similar bet themselves.

"Thanks." Piz said as he turned and marched back into battle, a little more confident at his inside knowledge. He wasn't sure, but he didn't think that Wallace had this kind of the information. After all, Piz hadn't seen him approach a group or any ugly girls. But he didn't seem to stick to the average looking girls, never venturing towards the ones that were not only really pretty but you could tell they knew it.

Wallace had his own game plan, and now Piz had his. He didn't know why Logan had decided to be nice and give tips, take pity on him. Maybe because he was now so ultimately secure in his relationship with Veronica that he didn't view him as a threat any longer. Maybe he'd just gotten bored of the rivalry, although looking at the way things were between him and Duncan most of the time he doubted that was it. Either way, Piz wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

And in the end, Piz kind of like Logan.

* * *

Piz was on a roll. Eight phone numbers, two more than Wallace's current tally, and he'd just spotted a new group of at least seven girls mingling in the corner by the dart board. They hadn't noticed him making the rounds so it was almost a safe bet that he'd get at least three or four numbers out of them.

It'd only been an hour and Logan's technique had worked well on the packed bar. He'd even gotten the number of the prettiest girl in the bar outside their group. It'd been a small victory when he'd looked over and saw Wallace's face, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"Hey Piz, can I talk to you for a sec?" Mac asked as she approached him. Piz's eyes flitted from the booth-which now only contained Veronica and Logan-to the bar where Dick leaned, obviously trying to get order another drink, giving his back to the rest of the bar and his girlfriend.

"Mac, if this is going to be about what a jerk move this whole thing is, save it. Our dorm room is a mess and I don't want to have to be responsible for cleaning it all up. Every day. For a month." Piz tried not to sound as annoyed as he felt. He was losing precious time. On top of that, he was finally having fun with this and he didn't really need her to make him feel like a jerk about it.

"No. I don't really care. And I've seen your dorm, I wouldn't want to clean it all by myself either." Mac replied, seeming to be in a hurry. "I'm actually more annoyed at Dick about it because I remember seeing him doing that in high school. And worse."

Mac seemed to get lost in her thoughts for a moment, biting her lip and letting her eyes fall to focus on the floor. Piz gently cleared his throat to get her attention again, once they got this over with he could go back to his bet and not think of this weird and awkward feeling he was getting.

"Anyway, if you want to switch, I will." Mac said, looking back up at him. Piz felt his eyebrows pull together in his confusion.

"Switch what?"

"The whole designated driver thing. I haven't had anything but Coke all night so that won't be a problem. It's not any fun drinking without Dick. In fact, it's kind of weird, but I don't want to switch with him and have him be drunk and me sober because that's just asking for trouble. And you seem like you're having fun, so…" Mac trailed off as she watched his face.

"Sure. That'd be really great, actually. Thanks Mac." Piz bobbed his head up and down as he mentally figured how many drinks he was behind everyone else in the hour and a half that they've been here. And whether or not he was going to get a beer or something a little harder.

"Piz? Could you take me home?" He heard Duncan's voice ask, approaching him from the left.

"What?" Piz asked automatically, reacting to the sound of his name.

"Can you take me home? I'm not really having any fun, worrying about Lilly and whether or not she's okay. I would just drive myself home, but that'll leave you one car short and then you'll have to make two trips later, when you leave." Duncan repeated and elaborated, coming to stop next to Piz and Mac.

"Actually, I'm no long the DD. That's Mac now, we just switched since she wasn't planning on drinking tonight anyway."

"Well…" Mac started, but was interrupted by Dick's approach.

"Hey, babe. I got us two more Cokes, but did you want a beer? Because I can go get you one and drink the other soda myself." Dick asked, coming up behind his girlfriend.

"No, I'll take the Coke." Mac assured him and watched as he turned and walked to the booth, setting the sodas down and sliding in next to Veronica. Mac turned back to Piz. "We'll switch when you get back. I'll even get you your first shot for taking this trip for me, how about that?"

Piz nodded and Mac instantly turned and started back to the booth, only pausing for a moment to nod her thanks and agreement.

"Okay, man, lets go." He started off towards the front door of the bar, shoving his hand into the front pocket of his jeans in search of the car keys.

"Thanks." Duncan replied simply as he followed him out.

* * *

**A/N:** I also do not condone underage drinking. Don't do it, if you're under 21. I do obviously support drinking safely and responsibly. If you're going to drink, don't drive and if you're going to drive, don't drink.


	25. Important Author's Note

Hello to anybody still reading this. I know it's been taking me an extraordinary long time to get updates out, and for this I am sorry. The complete drama that seems to constantly surround my life just keeps coming.

I am currently going through a move. Yes, another one. Only this time, instead of moving across town I am moving to a different state. This is especially hard for me since I am the last of my siblings to leave my home state and for the last 4 years I've been both my brother's _and_ my sister's backup for mom updates. The move will require packing (and that is a long and tedious task since I have _a lot_ of stuff and more shoes and handbags than is necessary for any person to have) and unpacking (which will take forever since I'm OCD and cannot handle living out of suitcases and/or boxes). Plus this will require me to make a job change (which I am thankful for, hopefully a new job won't require me to work sixteen to eighteen hour days and work three other departments as well as managing my own).

The move alone would only put me out of commission for a couple of weeks, a month at the most, but there is another situation that I am dealing with. My brother just told me a couple days ago that he will be going to Iraq come February. Since I haven't seen him almost four years (which is the longest I've ever gone without seeing my big bro) I will be trying to work out a way to spend some time with him. I'm hoping that I will be able to get my mother, brother and big sister together at least once before then. I might even be able to help heal this massive rift (and by massive rift I mean their 'rift' makes the grand canyon look like a crack in the floor) between my older siblings. As the baby of the family I've somehow assumed the 'middle child' position and I can't handle it anymore. Especially with my brother going to war.

I know I've probably given too much information than what is necessary, but I wanted to fully explain why there hasn't been an update and might not be for a while.

So until further notice, THE RETURN is on hiatus.

Thank you, and I hope to get my life under control enough for there to be an update soon.


	26. 23 Bubbly

**Title:** The Return 23-Bubbly  
**Rating:** PG-13 (underage use of alcohol, an f-bomb, mentions of nudity and mentions of drug use.)  
**Word Count:** 4,623  
**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly the first, Veronica, Logan, Dick, Mac, Wallace, Weevil, OFC, Parker, Piz, Duncan _(mentions of: Lilly the second and Celeste Kane) Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick (oh yeah, and mentions of Logan/Weevil)_  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, inothing/i. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.  
**A/N:** I had this done a while ago but at first I didn't know if I was able to keep the same tone as the first 22chapters after such a long absense. Then something happened to the program I wrote it in and it took me a while to get it back... so here's the new chapter. I hope it still reads like it's from the same story.

**A/N: **This chapter is super fluffy. Be warned, there is definite fluffiness to be had here. Also, if you look closely there's a hint at another fic of mine.

* * *

The Return

23

Bubbly

~Lilly~

"So anyway, it's not like I was with him at the time. I wasn't even with Logan, and yeah, sleeping with his dad was a bad idea. You don't know how bad of an idea that was, but seriously, I was in a coma forever, it's not like I haven't paid for my sins. All those years, and I missed my best friend getting all badass. I missed the Donut finally screwing up for once, and he ran away. Twice! I missed all this stuff that would've been so much fun if I'd been around to see it, and _he's mad at me_?" Lilly rambled, her hands waving around to emphasize her point, the drink in her right hand sloshing over the sides.

"Your boyfriend, right?" The guy she was talking to asked, looking bored of the conversation but still hopeful that it would be a successful pick up.

"No. That's exactly it, he was never really my boyfriend. Logan forgave me easier than Weevil has, and I dated Logan for two years. And it was his dad!" Lilly spares a glance towards the booth where Logan and Veronica were sitting, whispering to each other and giggling. "Of course that probably has something to do with the fact that he's madly in love with my best friend now. Totally head over heels, listening to cheesy love songs and all that stuff kind of love. It would totally be gross and disturbing if I didn't know for a fact that Ronica was worth it."

"Ronica? That's the little blonde on that guys' lap, right? The hot one?"

Lilly narrowed her eyes as she set her drink down. "She's taken. Like, seriously taken. You hit on her, I can point out, like, six guys in this room that will line up to kick your ass." She glanced around, locating each person. Logan and Dick in the booth. Eli at the bar, still chatting up the fake redheaded slut. Wallace, hitting on some girl, trying to get her numbers. Duncan… _huh, where's the donut?_ Lilly's eyes scanned the room a little more, searching for her little brother. _And where's the other kid? Wallace's shadow?_ "Well, at least four."

"Woah, it's cool." The guy said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "I wasn't gonna."

"Whatever, Mark was it?" Lilly asked, but continued on, she didn't really care what his name was. "I need a new drink." With that she left him sitting there, staring after her. She didn't need to sit and listen to how hot her best friend was, and he shouldn't be noticing anyway, at least not while she was sitting there.

Lilly thought briefly about going over and seeing what Wallace was doing. She'd noticed him all night long. He'd flirt with a girl, get a number and then head back to home base, like he was searching for a pat on the back and a job well done. Something was most definitely going on. Lilly quickened her pace, walking straight for the booth and sliding in next to Logan and Veronica.

"Hey guys. What's Wallace doing?" Lilly asked, reaching for Logan's half finished beer.

"Getting phone numbers." Logan replied simply before grabbing the beer bottle back before she could take a sip. "Get your own. Or have that guy you've been talking to for the last hour get you one, either way, keep your hands off mine."

"That guy was a total jerk, he was checking out other girls while I was just trying to have a conversation." Lilly complained, slumping back into her seat. This probably wasn't the best place to meet guys. A shit hole bar in the middle of nowhere she'd ever be again. "Where's Duncan?"

"He couldn't sit still, was too worried about Lilly and Parker. Piz drove him home about twenty minutes ago. He should be back soon." Veronica answered, sliding her beer bottle towards Lilly. "You can have mine. I'd prefer something fruity and girly."

Lilly scooped the nearly full beer bottle of the table and took a long drink from it before slamming it back on the table. "When he gets back we should play one big game of I never. It's been forever and I'd love to hear all about the things that you've all done that I haven't. It's possible I won't be the drunkest one here." Her eyes flitted around the table. "But I don't think I'll be the most sober either."

"I'm not as innocent as I look." Mac said, her voice dipping low into a slightly seductive and dangerous tone.

"Ooo… Tell me more about this non-innocence." Dick muttered as he pulled Mac closer, which almost seemed impossible, and nuzzled her neck.

"Please don't." Veronica interrupted, holding her eyes up as if to shield herself from the PDA. Lilly could relate, she was stuck here with two of the most PDAest couples on the planet. "And while we have done some stuff in the last couple of years, Lil, there are still ways you can totally kick our asses at this game."

"Yeah, you know I vote we don't play this game at all." Logan gave Lilly a little push as he started to scoot out of the booth. Logan slid out, nearly pushing Lilly onto the floor in the process, and then leaned over the seat towards Veronica. "What kind of fruity drink did you want baby?"

"Something apple or berry flavored." Veronica replied, giving him a smile and then turning to watch him walk away. "And I second Logan's vote on not playing the game. I really don't want to run into a question about have-you-ever-kissed-a-friend's-former-or-current-significant-other."

Lilly slipped back into the booth, sliding up close to Veronica's side, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and opened her mouth to argue that it would only make the game funner. In fact, this could turn out to be best game of 'I Never…', but she was cut off before she could get a word out.

"Or have you ever committed a felony." Dick supplied.

"Have you ever hacked into government files." Mac said while taking a sip of her soda, her eyes roaming around the table. "No? Just me then?"

"If the question was have-you-ever-_stolen_-files, then it would be me too. What're you playing?" Wallace asked, suddenly appearing next to the table.

"We're not playing anything, we're vetoing the game." Veronica replied, oblivious to the fact that Lilly was staring at all the other people at the table. They really all were kind of amazing.

* * *

~Duncan~

"Thanks for the ride, man, I know I'm kind of putting you behind in your bet." Duncan said as Piz slowed to a stop in front of the house.

"You know, it's not really a big deal. I think it's giving Wallace time to catch up and think he's gaining on me." Piz chuckled as he put Logan's car in park. "Plus when I got the keys from Logan he said he'd try and convince Wallace to pause, you know, to be fair."

"Yeah, but will Veronica let him? I know she let the advice stuff slide, but…" Duncan started to point out.

"I know, she doesn't normally play against Wallace, but she didn't really seem to care about it this time. Says that it at least means the dorm will get cleaned this year." Piz assured.

"Well, let's hope so." Duncan opened the car door and slid out. "See you later, man." He said before slamming the car door shut and turning to run up the porch stairs.

He heard the car practically peeled out of the driveway, the sound of little rocks kicking up and hitting the front porch. It wasn't loud enough for anyone in the house to hear past the front entryway. Duncan still cringed a little, freezing as he waited for his daughter's cry.

Instead he heard the faint sound of the television. Duncan stood there, debating on whether he should inform Parker that he was back or check on Lilly first. _I'll just check on her for a second, and then let Parker know I'm here._

Duncan ran up the stairs, taking two at a time as silently as he could. He'd had a lot of practice over the last couple of years at being quiet, he could barely even hear his footsteps himself. So when he rounded the corner and slammed into Parker it took her completely off guard. It also explained why she screamed. And hit him.

"Oh my God!" Parker yelled, her knee coming up to slam into his groin as she reached out with her hand to slam the heel into his nose simultaneously. Duncan made the split decision to protect his face. He wasn't in the mood for a broken nose, and the blood and hospital visit that would accompany it. Unfortunately that left his lower body completely open to her attack.

"Fuck!" Duncan grunted when her knee made contact. He nearly doubled over from the shooting pain, but he managed to grunt out who he was. "Parker, it's me, Duncan."

"Oh, god. Duncan are you okay?" Parker's hands shot out to grab on to him, fussing a little as he sat down on the top step and continued to breathe deeply while waiting for the pain to subside.

"I'm fine. It's been a long time since someone has done that to me. I think the last it was Lilly, she was in the sixth grade and I was in fifth." Duncan told her, somewhat amused by the memory.

"Why would your sister do that? You sneak up on her in the middle of the night too?" Parker asked, confused. She probably had siblings that were nothing but nice to her. Siblings that she only fought with on occasion and it never escalated into something physical.

"We were fighting. Actually it was more that we were screaming at each other, I don't remember why, but our parents got home and my mom hated when we were loud. So I grabbed her, trying to get her to be quiet, I covered her mouth up with my hand." Duncan's breathing evened out as he remembered how much worse that had hurt. Parker hadn't put as much force behind her attack as Lilly had. "I remember her eyes got real narrow and I knew, I just knew that it had been a mistake. Then she kneed me, as hard as she could, which was pretty hard considering that she had the leg muscles from ballet and soccer."

"Wow, did you guys fight a lot?" He could tell she was kind of amazed at the thought of them as little kids, fighting and yelling at each other. Duncan had only known her for a few days, same with Lilly, but he could already tell that Parker was beginning to see them as most people in high school had seen them. All four of them really. He, Lilly, Logan and Veronica had been these mysterious characters. He remembers the students of Neptune High, before the coma and before it all fell apart, looking at the four of them as if they were fascinating. They'd had other friends, but it was mostly just the four of them, laughing at some private joke that only they knew about in the middle of the quad.

He and Lilly were probably the mythical creatures to Parker and Piz. They'd only ever heard stories and he knew how Logan and Veronica could romanticize things of the past, the days before Lilly's coma when they were the best of friends.

"Yeah. We fought a lot, and it usually ended up with some sort of physical altercation and a lecture from our father on why it isn't necessary to hit over the speaker phone." Duncan pushed up from the floor, holding out his hand to help Parker up, not wanting to explain that a lot of times he ended up hitting Lilly after blacking out. "How bout I go make sure we didn't wake up the baby and then watch a movie?"

"Okay." Parker agreed, heading downstairs to wait for him. Duncan sighed, he liked Parker. He even liked Piz after he got over his hero worship of Veronica and Wallace, but he dreaded the idea of filling them in on all the history that was between everyone else at this little retreat.

* * *

~Logan~

The night was going great. It'd been so long since they'd all been together without any of the usual drama. Sure Lilly was obviously seething over the fact that Weevil hadn't spoken to her once all evening. And Duncan had gone home early and they hadn't really gotten around to the major catching up session that he'd planned. The big friends-night-out was still in full swing, if somewhat fractured. Wallace was currently at the table, but soon would be off to get more phone numbers. Piz was in transit and in danger of falling behind, and Logan would be damned if all his advice was wasted. Especially since it was useless to him now that he and Veronica were back together, hopefully for good this time. Weevil was spending all his time flirting with randoms at the bar, which Logan didn't really mind too much. Lilly flip flopped between over-flirty, over-hyper and pouting.

"Hey man," Logan greeted as he leaned against the bar next to Weevil, waiting for the bartender to notice him. Weevil grunted in return, barely acknowledging him.

Logan rolled his eyes. There probably wasn't much of a reason for him to make an attempt at a friendship with Weevil, but Veronica was friends with him and Lilly seemed to still like him. There was a good chance that he would have to see Weevil quite a bit in the future, he should at least try to be civil with him. "Saw you talking to that redhead, she was pretty hot. She leave?"

"She went to the little girl's room. Why? You wanna shot at her?" Weevil snapped, his eyes narrowing and his fist tightening around the handle to his beer mug. "You looking for something on the side so soon after hooking back up with V?"

"I don't cheat, and I would especially never fuck things up with Veronica like that. Just trying to make conversation, figured that with you being friends with Veronica and Lilly I might as well try to learn to be civil to you." Logan's hands gripped the edge of the bar tightly as he tried not to hit his former arch-nemesis.

"Sorry, it's just… After all these years, you decide you want to be buds? Braid each other's hair and gossip about girls?" Weevil shook his head, trying to stare Logan down as he took a long swallow of his beer.

"Not friends. Civil. There's a difference." Logan took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say next. "And I kind of owe you, you kept Veronica safe. In high school, last year. This summer, on that case with her and Piz. Just for that, for making sure she was okay, I'm willing to not make it harder on her. If I can't be there, I'd prefer it was you. I know Wallace loves her and would protect her as much as he could, but I know what you're capable of."

"So you trust me with your girlfriend huh?" Weevil asked, a slight leer on his face, letting Logan in on the direction of his thoughts.

"No, I trust you to protect her. More importantly, I trust her with you."

"What can I get you, hon?" The bartender asked, a blonde woman in her early forties, leaning on the counter directly in front of them.

"Can I get your fruitiest drink? With an umbrella?" Logan asked, completely clueless when it came to the fruity drinks and their girly names. "Bonus points if it's pink."

"Coming right up sugar." The bartender nodded twice, smiling as she walked away.

"You finally coming out of the closet rich boy?" Weevil asked, a bemused expression on his face.

"Yes, that's why I'm up here with you. I've realized that tiny, blonde and gorgeous isn't my type. I prefer short, bald and Mexican. Whaddya say Weevs, wanna make a go of it?" With that Logan did a Veronica-esque head tilt and batted his eyelashes at the boy sitting on the stool, trying not to laugh. Logan puckered his lips a bit and made what he would describe as a 'come hither' look, pushing Weevil over the edge into laughter.

"You know, white boy, I think we could probably work out the civility thing." Weevil slapped Logan on the back a couple of times before turning on his stool to face the bar and his beer. "But there ain't no way in hell I'm 'making a go of it' with you. Even if tiny, blonde and gorgeous isn't your type anymore, they're still mine."

"Yeah, well speaking of tiny, blonde and gorgeous girls being your type. You ever gonna come over to the table, talk to Lilly?" Logan asked, his eyes darting back to the table as Lilly and Mac laughed as something Veronica had said. Wallace and Dick both just looked confused.

"Actually, I'll come over in a bit. The redhead's getting a little boring." Weevil seemed to cringe at the thought of talking to the trashy looking girl again. "In fact, I might just follow you over there."

"Aw, I've always wanted a puppy." Logan joked, straightening up when he caught sight of the bartender heading in their direction.

"Here you go honey, you want this on your tab?" She asked, giving him a look that he got all the time. The look that said she knew she had seen him before, she just couldn't place him.

"Yeah, and could I get another Miller, bottle. And whatever he's having." Logan tipped his head in the direction of Weevil's nearly empty glass. "And put his drinks on our tab too. He's with us."

The woman nodded and went to get Logan's beer out large refrigerator at the other end of the bar.

"Thanks man, but I can buy my own drinks you know." Weevil pointed out.

"Yeah, so can I. But Duncan left his tab open." Logan said with a smirk as the bartender set the two beers down in front of them.

"Okay, I can live with that."

* * *

~Parker~

Duncan sat down on the couch next to Parker, swinging his left leg up to rest his ankle on his right knee. He winced and immediately readjusted so both of his feet were flat on the floor.

"Maybe we should get you some ice for your… you know." Parker suggested, still feeling awful about her attack.

"That might be a good idea." Duncan admitted. He had pretended that it didn't hurt all that much, but she could tell it was an act. She popped up from the couch and headed to the kitchen with Duncan on her heels.

The moment she stepped into the kitchen she froze, Duncan bumping into her from behind because of her sudden stop. She stumbled a little further into the room before she felt Duncan's arm dart forward and slide around her waist, keeping her from falling.

"What the hell?" Parker gasped in shock, staring at the mounds and mounds of white fluffy bubbles. Or foam. It was more like foam, like those outdoor bubble parties the clubs would have sometimes. Where they'd turn on this giant bubble machine, the strobe lights and turn the pop music way up. It was fun. This was not. They had to clean this up, couldn't just hose it down either.

"Where did all the bubbles come from?" Duncan asked, letting her go as he moved into the room to stand beside her.

"I don't know. They weren't here earlier, when I made my tea." Parker could hear the awe in her voice, she'd never seen this many bubbles in a kitchen before.

"What did you do when you made your tea? Trina had a bubble machine when we were little, but it didn't spit out bubbles like this." Duncan told her as he reached over and flipped on the kitchen light.

"Wow." She was stunned, the light made them sparkle and, if it were possible, made it look like there were even more of them.

"No kidding." Duncan walked even further into the room, wading into them until they reached his knees. He bent, scooping up a handful of the sparkly iridescent bubbles, it almost looked like snow. He seemed to contemplate something before he turned to look at her with a smile grin on his face. Then he threw them, in her face, like a snowball.

Parker's mouth dropped, she reached up and wiped the bubbles off her face and looked at them and laughed. Quickly she bent down and scooped up her own handful of bubbles and threw them messily at him.

Laughing they both worked their way further into the white mountains, further into the kitchen, as they threw bubbles at each other.

* * *

~Wallace~

"You never told me about that." He glared at his best friend as Lilly finished telling a particularly amusing story of a time when Veronica was wasted. He'd never heard any stories of drunk Veronica. He'd always figured that she was always the sober one, always the designated driver.

He had made himself comfortable next to Dick, waiting for Piz to get back and almost forgetting about their bet in the process. Lilly had traded places with Veronica and was now between her and Mac. It had been a silent interaction when all three girls had seen that Weevil intended to join them, following Logan back from the bar. Instead of sliding into the booth after Logan Weevil had pulled up a chair from a empty nearby table and straddled it backwards.

"I'm sorry, Wallace. You see, I would've told you…" Veronica paused for a moment, giving Lilly a mock glare before continuing, "but I obviously don't remember it."

"Of course you wouldn't Ronica, you were _wasted_." Lilly assured her, grinning. Logan snorted from Veronica's other side, as did Dick from his place between Wallace and Mac, far enough away from Veronica to avoid injury.

"I couldn't have been that drunk. I don't remember ever getting that drunk." Veronica insisted, looking indignantly between her boyfriend and Dick.

"Wasn't that also the first time she tried weed, Logan?" Dick asked, leaning a little further away from Veronica.

"Yes, yes it was Dick. That's a mighty good memory you have." Logan said, his grin growing, much to Veronica's irritation.

"He only remembers it because it was his stash that we smoked." Lilly said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm still waiting for you to pay me back for that Kane, it was pretty good stuff. Pricey too. I was saving it." Dick laughed out, obviously recalling Veronica and Lilly stoned.

"That might have been a fun night for the girls, but I spent most of it running after them. Do you know how hard it is keeping track of two giggly and stoned girls?" Logan was laughing despite himself.

"Didn't we video it?" Dick asked, looking at Logan for confirmation.

"You guys videotaped Veronica and Lilly stoned?" Wallace asked in disbelief. It was so unlike his Veronica to let there be any evidence of her doing something illegal. And her dad had been the sheriff back then. Then again, she had been a completely different person back then. He knew that, but he still had trouble connecting his Veronica to Lilly's Veronica.

"Oh yeah." Logan and Dick said at the same time before bursting into laughter.

"They started taping the parties where Veronica got drunk because she kept insisting that it never happened. When Logan would argue with her about it, and believe me they would argue about it often, she would just ask for proof. When he couldn't supply it she told him that he was either exaggerating or it never happened, either way she needed proof. So he started the whole videotaping thing." Lilly started to explain before she was cut off by Veronica.

"Then it kind of became habit, someone videotaping the parties. It was a tradition that we document the night, and then Lilly and I started taping ourselves 'pre-party'."

"We had this huge home video collection. Then one day, Celeste found the boxes of them in the back of my closet and freaked. I came home and she was sitting at the kitchen table with a pile of tapes and a degausser. She was worried that one of the maids would find them and leak them, and since Duncan was on a bunch of them it could ruin his political career." Lilly finished.

"Veronica had the last video of that last homecoming." Logan said, the laughter gone out of his face as he looked down at the table. "I used it for the tribute video."

"Tribute video?" Lilly asked, completely confused.

"Yeah, Junior year when nobody thought you'd ever wake up, your parents donated this boring fountain in your honor. Logan did a video." Dick explain as everyone reached for their drinks at the same time, nobody looking at each other.

"You'll be glad to know that he included a clip of you mooning someone." Mac said, breaking the sudden tension.

"Oh good. It wouldn't really be a tribute if my naked ass hadn't been showcased." The entire table burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Piz asked, dropping into the seat next to Wallace with a beer in hand.

"Lilly's ass."

"Veronica drunk and stoned."

Veronica and Lilly spoke at the same time before turning to glare at each other for a moment before bursting into another fit of giggles.

"So Lilly's mooning people and Veronica got stoned and I missed it all?" Piz asked in disappointment.

"Not tonight, a few years ago." Logan corrected before he looked at his giggling girlfriend and her best friend before amending that statement again. "Although, by the looks of things the girls slipped off and got high at some point." This caused both girls to giggle even harder.

"Aren't you one of the DDs?" Wallace asked, looking at the beer bottle in Piz's hand.

"We traded. I didn't really want to drink and he did, so I told him we'd switch after he got back from dropping Duncan off." Mac supplied, finally looking away from the two giggling girls next to her.

"Yeah, which reminds me, we've got a bet to finish." Wallace said, downing the rest of his beer before looking expectantly at his roommate.

"Oh yeah." And with that Piz slapped another phone number on the table.

"Holy shit. When did you get all 'ladies man'?" Wallace was shocked, he couldn't believe that Piz had so many numbers. Not only did he have a lot of numbers, he had more numbers than Wallace did. _How does that make any sense?_

"It's like you don't even know me." Piz said, sliding out of the booth with his beer and walking off into the sea of people.

"Damn." Wallace looked at the table in amazement, more specifically he looked at Veronica and Mac. "Do you remember that scrawny little freshman that lost all his shit on the first day of college? When did he turn into the smooth operator?"

Mac and Veronica hrugged, Logan and Dick smirked and Lilly just looked confused. Shaking his head Wallace walked off into the crowd, grateful that more people had come into the bar. More girls for him to work on.

Apparently this was the place to be in this dinky little town.

* * *

As always, feedback is love.


	27. 24 Awkward

**Title:** The Return 24-Awkward

**Rating: **R (underage use of alcohol, an f-bomb, mentions of nudity and mentions of drug use)

**Word Count:** 5,351

**Characters/Pairings:** Dick, Mac, Logan, Veronica, Lilly the first, Weevil, OFC, Parker, Duncan, Weevil, OFC, Parker, Piz, Duncan _(mentions of: Lilly the second, Piz and Wallace) Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, inothing/i. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been iway/i different.

**A/N:** This chapter is super fluffy. Be warned, there is definite fluffiness to be had here.

**

* * *

**

The Return

**24**

**Awkward**

~Dick~

"So, twelve versus eight, apparently that tiny little break in that they took didn't hurt Piz's lead." Mac commented as she put the latest phone number in the red cup.

"You're not still upset about the advice we gave him are you?" Dick questioned, a hollow feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. He didn't mean to upset her, but he and Logan had felt bad for the guy.

"I already knew you could be an ass, it's just that… Well, Piz is a nice guy. A little clueless and naïve, especially when compared with Neptune High alumni, but he's genuinely a nice guy. Then the two of you swoop in with your jackassery and, well, I don't want him to suddenly become a jerk." Mac explained, fidgeting with her fingernails and trying to look anywhere but at him.

"So you still think I'm a jerk?" This had been what he was afraid of, her never being able to fully accept that he had changed. He knew that he hadn't treated her well in high school or last year. In fact, if he was honest with himself he had to admit that he'd treated her almost as badly in the year after Cassidy died that Logan had treated Veronica after Lilly's incident. And he knew how hard it had been for Logan and Veronica to get past that.

"No, but you were a jerk. You were a jerk for a long time, and look how long it took you to get over being a jerk." Mac looked at him expectantly, he could see the worry in her eyes.

"This stuff doesn't automatically turn you into a jerk, babe. There are other things, like rotating step-mothers and absentee parents, started at, like, a really young age." Dick explained, rubbing his hand along her leg in an attempt to soothe her.

"I know, it's just, well, you and Logan are kind of strong personalities. We all are, we all have these strong personalities and a tendency to do stupid, dangerous or illegal things. I worry about Piz and Parker sometimes. That they might get sucked into it all." Mac took a deep breath. "Especially Parker, because she kind of thinks that Veronica is all role modelly and Lilly is, well, Lilly. It's easy to get sucked into that."

"Were you sucked into it?" Dick asks, his own concern growing.

"When it was the four of them walking around campus, being the four coolest and most perfect people on the planet? Yeah, I did get sucked into the whole worshiping thing. You remember how it was, how intense they were. How glossy they seemed. But we were around when it all fell apart, Piz and Parker weren't and now that they're all back together… their glossy sheen has kind of come back a bit and I can see Parker and Piz getting sucked into it."

"It won't last. You were on the outside last time, they're not as glossy up close. Not when you're there for the fights and the screaming matches and the little wars that went on. Not when you have to see up close exactly what they're all like when they're together. It's different." Dick explained, scooting out of the booth. "Come on, let's go have some fun. We don't have to babysit the cups and the bet just because we're the sober ones."

"What if they cheat?" Mac asked warily, looking back at the two cups on the table as she slid out behind Dick.

"You said it yourself, Piz a nice guy. And from the limited experience I've had with nice guys, they don't cheat. And Wallace won't cheat either. He knows that Veronica would somehow figure it out." Dick pulled Mac along behind him as he made his way through the crowd towards where the majority of their group was standing.

~*~

"Wow Dick, you're really good at this." Veronica said, giggling a bit. She was sitting between Mac and Lilly, and the two blondes could barely keep from laughing most of the time.

"The only reason he's so good is because both Weevil and I are drinking. If I was stone cold sober I'd be awesome at this game too." Logan corrected her, obviously annoyed as he stepped up to the line to take his three shots.

"I dunno white boy, I've been drinking longer than you tonight and I seem to be doing better than you." Weevil said right as Logan let go of his dart and it went sailing into the black ring around the edge. Zero points.

"Yeah man, you really seem to be sucking at this particular bar game." Dick was trying to keep to keep from laughing, but it was getting harder with each shot Logan took. Usually Logan was the more talented one. Videogames, poker, pool, air hockey, foosball, surfing, sports. Logan was usually the one kicking everyone else's ass, but darts seemed to be his weak spot.

"I've just never played darts before." Logan whined, as he made his third and final throw. At least this time it hit the board, even if he only got a three.

"It's okay baby," Veronica soothed as she got up and held out her hand to Weevil. Weevil placed all three of his darts in her hand, letting her take his turn. _That's risky, if she missed all three of them he'd no longer be close behind Dick's score._ "You can't be perfect at all the bar games." With that Veronica threw all three darts in quick succession, getting a twenty, a trip-twenty and a bull's-eye. Dick's mouth dropped in shock and awe as he watched Weevil's score rise above his own. "I'm sure you're kick ass at horseshoes."

"That didn't make me feel any better." Logan's voice was both disappointed and filled with awe.

"It wasn't supposed to." Veronica said as she stretched up on her tiptoes to peck him on the lips.

"Next round Veronica gets to play." Logan stated as Dick got ready to throw his darts, he had to get the same as Ronnie or higher if he was going pull ahead of Weevil again.

"No way, I've gambled with her before. There ain't no way in hell that I'm giving her all my money _just for fun_." Weevil said, his voice fading away a bit as Dick concentrated on his target.

"Don't you mean all Logan's money?" Lilly asked, her voice sounding far away too as Dick took his first shot. Double Twenty. Not bad. "I'm bored anyway, I'm going to go mingle."

Dick heard the click-click of Lilly's shoes as she got up and walked away from the group. Weevil was muttering something, he could hear the smacking of Logan and Veronica kissing, Mac was tapping her foot. The sounds faded away again as he concentrated, staring at the red dot it the center of the round black and yellow board. He threw the dart and made it only into the black ring surrounding that red dot. _Dammit_.

"You can do it, Dick!" Mac called from behind him, causing him to grin as he took his third and final shot. It was in the black ring again, but this put him back ahead of Weevil.

"Thanks babe." Dick swung around to wrap his arms around her waist and swing her around as he pressed his lips against hers.

"You wanna play for me baby?" Logan asked, his voice low as he pulled out of his kiss with Veronica.

"No. No way dude, you can't just hand over the reins to your girlfriend just because you're losing." Dick protested, seconds behind Weevil chimed in with his own "_No way man!_"

"You'll just have to face it, Logan, we've finally found a game you're not good at." Dick commented as his best friend finally stood to take his turn.

~Weevil~

He was only twenty points behind surfer boy. Twenty points down and sixty bucks on the line. He was winning a lot on this trip. Veronica seemed happy, and Echolls wasn't really all that bad after they stopped goading each other. In fact, he was kind of funny. Dick was slightly more annoying, but Mac seemed to keep him under control.

"There you are." The redhead wrapped her arms around his own left arm. "I've been looking for you." She pressed a kiss to his cheek and he knew, he just _knew_, that he now had a caked on lipstick print on his cheek in the obnoxious red that she wore. _Perfect_. Weevil pulled away from her, letting her arms drop to her sides as he took his place at the throw line. He let his eyes wonder around the bar for a moment, trying not to acknowledge who he was looking for.

He threw all three darts, getting almost as many points as he had gotten when he'd let Veronica throw for him. Logan and Dick were behind him, whining about how he had the unfair advantage of V's throws that pushed him ahead of Dick. Weevil pulled all three darts out of the electronic board and turned to make his way back to his beer and, unfortunately, the redhead that he couldn't seem to shake.

"You're up Surf Boy." He passed Dick on the way back to his designated 'rest' stop, pausing a moment to give both him and Logan a little pound. His eyes flicked up for a moment, automatically searching for a blue pair lined with black. They found hers this time, and he stopped directly in front of the redhead as he held her gaze. He could see the flicker of pain and anger pass through them before she had the time to affect the indifference that she had been portraying most of the trip.

Lilly's eyes flitted off to the side, focused for a moment before she turned and walked away. The redhead was either turning out to be a bigger problem or a bigger asset than he had originally thought. It all depended on whether he wanted to make up with Lilly or piss her off. Problem was, he didn't know which one he wanted.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, what was it again?" Veronica asked, leaning past Logan to address the redhead directly. Weevil didn't know whether she was genuinely curious or if she could tell that he'd forgotten it, but he was grateful that she had asked.

"It's Jessie." Jessie turned to face Veronica more head on before continuing the conversation. "Are you all from Neptune?"

"Yep, all eleven of us." Veronica confirmed, already sounding bored with the conversation. Weevil would have to remember that when she was drunk, Veronica had a hard time keeping her emotions in check. Usually she had a tight lid on them, only displaying what she wanted others to see, but this drunken version of her didn't seem to have a problem letting everyone in on what she was feeling at the moment. It was both amusing and a little disturbing.

"Eleven? I only have seen, like, six of you." Jessie's head whipped around, obviously scanning the bar for five more people she hadn't known since first grade.

"Three of us stayed home, but there are eight genuine Neptunians here tonight." Veronica amended, sliding off the table to stand next to Logan. "I think I'm going to head up to the bar and get another drink." Veronica announced, turning to Mac to raise her eyebrows in both an invitation for her to join her and a demand that made it clear that the invitation wasn't a request.

"You know, I think I'm going to need another soda too." Mac replied, sliding out from under Dick's arm, which had been slung over her shoulder, to walk with Veronica towards the bar, their heads bent in some sort of conference.

"Is it true that Aaron Echolls lived there? You know, before he tried to kill that girl?" Jessie asked, her eyes alight with curiosity over the question that Weevil had tried to avoid earlier.

"Yeah, it's true." Logan answered, his voice short and clipped. He set his darts down on the table, before following the girls to the bar. After a few moments Lilly moved in to join on whatever conversation was now going on between the three. More than likely discussing what an idiot the girl he had picked up was. Jessie however seemed completely at ease, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat on the little table, her eyes roaming over the bar as her head bobbed up and down to some beat only she could hear.

"Guess he needed another drink too." Dick muttered as he stepped back and waited for Weevil to take his turn. The easy going atmosphere that had been surrounding them most of the night had dissipated into uncomfortable silence. _If things keep going like this, we might as well go home now._

~Parker~

She slid across the kitchen floor, her socks doing nothing to help her stop before she crashed into the counter and slipped to the ground. Duncan was laughing somewhere above her, his figure shrouded by piles and piles of bubbles. Even though the crash had hurt, she couldn't stop laughing either.

"Knock it off, Duncan." Parker demanded as she flipped over on her stomach before lifting herself up onto her hands and knees. This didn't work out either, her hands slid out from under her, the force causing her knees to slide as well and she landed flat on her stomach again. Duncan's laughter got louder, with him pausing for a moment to take in loud gasps of air. At least he was attempting to calm himself. "Remind me to smack you once I get up."

"I'm sorry, it's just that–" Duncan's explanation was cut off as Parker's hand connected with his ankle, wrapping around it and giving it a little tug to pull him off balance. His feet slid, and he seemed to be running in place with only his heels connecting with the floor, his arms stretched straight out from his sides, making frantic circles in the air. He continued to ridiculous dance for a few seconds before losing his balance completely to land on his butt, hard.

Parker could see him, look him in the eye as she laughed at him and the comedic spectacle he had just made of himself. _So much better than smacking him._ "So much better than smacking you."

"Does that mean I don't have to remind you anymore?" He asked before attacking her ribs with his fingers, tickling her into submission.

"No, you don't… have to… remind me…" Parker gasped out through the giggles. "And I prom… promise not to… to smack you." She squirmed in an attempt to get away from his tickling fingers, but his greater strength had her trapped between him and the cupboards. "Unless you don't stop that!"

Duncan's hands dropped immediately, but he still grinned at her. "Sorry, it's just been so long since I've had an adult to play with."

"I forgive you, but my stomach hurts and I don't think I can laugh anymore." Parker amended gripping on the counter to pull herself up, her legs sliding out from under her in the process as she tried to gain some sort of traction.

"Maybe you should take off the socks." Duncan suggested, copying her actions but having more luck in his sockless feet. Parker gripped the counter in on hand, leaning on it heavily in order not to end up back on the floor, and reached down with her free hand to pull each of her socks off. She stood there for a moment, her hand hovering close to the counter in fear of falling again.

"Thanks. So where_ do_ you think all the bubbles came from?" Parker asked, her hand staying close to the counters as she walked closer to the doorway.

"I don't know, what makes bubbles?" Duncan asked as he moved closer to the counter opposite Parker to give her more room to maneuver. Plus this way, if she fell again, she wouldn't take him with her.

"Washing machine, which is upstairs. Or the dishwasher." Parker said, thinking out loud as she tried to think of anything else that would do this. "The pool when full of bubble bath."

"Did you start the dishwasher?" Duncan asked, his eyes widening a little when he realized that this was the most likely cause of Bubble Mania 2007.

"Well, yeah. You guys loaded it, and if it didn't get started the dishes wouldn't be done for breakfast. Personally I don't want to have to hold my pancakes while I eat them." Parker exclaimed, finally making it to the doorway before turning to stare at him in shock. "How much soap did you put in there?"

"Well, Logan and I have never done the dishes before." Duncan explained, obviously stalling as he reached into the cupboard and grabbed the bottle of 'Green Apple' dish soap. He held it up for Parker to see.

"That bottle was nearly full when I did the dishes after lunch." She rushed forward, forgetting to worry about falling as she did so, to rip the bottle from his hands. "It's almost empty. Did you guys put all this in the dishwasher? Or did you do the pans by hand?" Parker couldn't bear to look inside the machine as she snapped it off, the wooshing sound it made grinding to an immediate halt.

"Why would we wash them by hand if there's a dishwasher?" Duncan questioned, worried that maybe Logan and he had done it wrong after all. Logan hadn't seemed sure how to do it either, but the only thing they'd really been unsure of was starting it. Maybe they were wrong about the whole thing.

"Because… Duncan, you're not supposed to use the liquid stuff in the machine, it's for hand washing only." Reaching under the counter Parker pulled out a blue and white block wrapped in clear plastic. "We bought these detergent tablets so you just put one of them in there and you're set."

"So the green liquid stuff, if we put it in the machine, does what?" His stomach was full of knots now, dreading the answer.

"It fills up with bubbles and they spill out onto the floor. And when they hit the heating duct on the floor, it made the bubbles even worse, making a bigger mess. And it isn't all fixed like that, it can really mess up the machine." Parker explained as she opened the dishwasher door to see the plates stacked in piles and set on top of racks. The racks had broken off the arms that kept them connected to drawer system from the weight of the dishes and bowls filled up with water. The glasses on the top rack had been placed with the mouth up, causing the glasses to all fill with water and the right side of that rack to break and fall onto the bottom one.

"But, when the dishes are in there like that, there's really no fixing it anyway." She stared at the mess inside the machine, the mass amounts of leftover food on the bottom. "Did you guys even rinse the plates and stuff off?"

"You have to do that?" Duncan's voice cracked a little over the last word, staring into the dishwasher over her shoulder. He couldn't believe the mess inside. The broken down mess of something that was supposed to be clean.

"Yeah." Her voice was flat and disbelieving, how could two adult men not know how to load the dishwasher?

"So basically we did it wrong?" His voice was hopeful.

"Duncan, you killed the dishwasher."

~Veronica~

"So did this night just get, like, really awkward?" She stared across the bar for a moment, at Jessie pawing at Weevil.

"Yes it did, and kind of tacky too. I feel like I have that lipstick on me somewhere, like there's so much it has to have gotten everywhere." Mac reached up to rub at a spot on her cheek, as if the girl had kissed her and left the same mark as she had on Weevil.

"I think that goes for all her makeup." Veronica resisted the urge to repeat Mac's action on her own cheek. She glanced up just in time to see Logan stalking towards them, his face looking rather annoyed.

"It get awkward for you too?" Mac asked as he got closer.

"Yeah, more so after you guys bailed." Logan replied, turning to Veronica. "I'll give you a million dollars to come back with me until the end of the game."

"Tempting, but no." Veronica turned down his offer, letting her eyes flit over the three people that remained at the dart board. "What'd she say?"

"Nothing, just asked if it was true that Aaron Echolls lived in Neptune." At her horrified look Logan added. "You know, before he tried to kill that girl."

"Oh God. Is it just me or should the rest of the world have the decency to just know who we are already so they don't mention that?" Veronica asked, looking over her shoulder at the busy bartender. "I mean, we were in the tabloids and everything, why don't they know?"

"The simple fact that we were in there at the same time as Brangelina, and really who pays attention to us when there's Brangelina?" Logan explained.

"Wasn't this pre-Brangie?" Mac asked, her brows drawn together in confusion.

"No, it was pre-TomKat." Logan corrected.

"What was pre-TomKat?" Lilly asked, joining their little group. "And what is TomKat?"

"Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes."

"They made a movie together?"

"Nope, they got married and made a baby together. Not in that order."

"Seriously?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "Get me a beer, okay? And remember, it's on Duncan's tab." With that he leaned forward and pecked Veronica on the lips before heading off to continue his game. Instead of the bouncy step he'd had before this seemed more like a death march.

"And then he jumped on Oprah's couch and started acting all crazy. Proposed to her on the Eiffel Tower. Knocked her up, and bought an ultrasound machine. Didn't show the baby for months even though Brangie sold pics of their baby." Veronica turned toward the sound of Mac explaining TomKat to Lilly. _What the hell?_

Mac must have caught her look because she turned to Veronica with a defensive "What?"

"Nothing, except that I didn't think that you really kept up with the tabloid gossip."

"I didn't, but I sat next to Shelly and Pam in government senior year, and it seemed to be much more interesting than how Bush was destroying the country." Mac explained.

"Whew, I was worried there for a second." Veronica mockingly wiped at her brow before turning back to Lilly. "Eventually they got married in Italy. And before you ask who Brangelina are, it's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. No they're not married, but they've got four kids and counting."

"Weird. You're out of it for a little while and Joey Potter marries Jerry McGuire."

Both Veronica and Mac snorted. It'd been a while since she'd really done the celebrity gossip thing.

"For a small town bar, this place is sure packed." Mac noted, leaning back against the bar to gaze out at the sea of beer drinkers and pool players.

"And the bartender is sure hard to flag down." Veronica muttered as she leaned a bit further over the bar to try and catch the older woman's attention.

Finally the woman headed their way, stopping in front of Veronica and her two best girl friends. "What can I get you sugar?"

"Could I get a Miller, bottle. A Pepsi, in a can with a glass of ice. And whatever this was. If it helps, it was pink." With that Veronica set her empty glass on the bar between her and the woman. "My boyfriend picked it out, he didn't say what it was."

"I think I remember him." The bartender looked up at her again. "That it?"

"Could I get one of the pink and fruity drinks too?" Lilly requested, leaning on the bar to make her request. With a nod from Veronica that it was the last of their drink order, the older woman walked off to the other end of the bar to begin mixing Veronica and Lilly's drinks.

"So, what's the redheaded slut like?" Lilly asked, looking directly at Veronica.

"I don't know if I've never had one." Veronica replied, already uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

"You know what I mean Veronica Mars." Lilly's voice took on a stern tone that Veronica automatically associated with every time she didn't want to tell her something and Lilly managed to drag it out of her. Like when she told Lilly about the Logan/Yolanda kiss that caused their breakup.

"Lil, I don't know. I was over there for maybe a whole thirty seconds before I came to get drinks. I can't really say what she's like." Veronica resisted the urge to fidget. She'd been lying at the drop of a hat for years, convincingly, without fidgeting or losing eye contact or playing with her hair. One week in Lilly's presence had practically wiped that clean. It turns out that no matter what, Lilly Kane would always be the one person she was unable to lie to.

"You couldn't have stayed a minute or two and gotten to know her? At least enough to report back that she was stupid and uninteresting and not all that pretty up close?" Lilly's voice held a slight whine, and Veronica rejoiced in the fact that she hadn't caught onto the lie and demanded to know the truth and why Veronica was hiding it.

"Sorry, I was thirsty." Veronica prayed that Lilly would let it drop, even though she knew that the likelihood of that was slim to none.

"But–" Lilly began, but was thankfully cut off by the returning bartender.

The woman set two glasses filled to the brim with pink liquid that just _looked_ sugary, before setting another glass full of ice, a can of Pepsi and an open bottle of beer in front of them. "That's seventeen in total hun, you want it on the tab?"

"Yes, thank you." Veronica said, picking up her drink and Logan's beer. "Well, I better get over there and cheer Logan on before he loses." Veronica hurried away from Lilly, leaving Mac alone to fend for herself.

~*~

"Didn't want to hang with the girls?" Logan asked, perching his chin on her shoulder. He stood behind her as they watched Dick and Weevil taking their turns. His hands were wrapped around her sides, just underneath her ribcage, fingers pressed against her stomach and slowly inching their way underneath the hem of her top. His thumbs, wrapped around her back were already underneath the thin layer of silk, rubbing circles into her skin.

"Sadly, it was either hang out with her and discuss _Jessie_-" she said the girls name like a dirty word "-or hang out with you and make the attempt at ignoring her presence. It was no contest." Veronica leaned back into his chest, craning her neck to look up into his face.

"Ah, you chose me?" Logan leaned his head down to place a light kiss on her lips. "Thank you baby."

Veronica gladly accepted the kiss before looking forward again, a small smile forming on her face. "No, I just didn't want to spend the next hour dissecting the girl, ignoring her is so much easier."

"That hurts baby, you know that? It really hurts." Logan's voice gave away the joke, even as he made the attempt to sound hurt and insulted. His hands dropped and he gave her a slight push to stand up, Veronica momentarily thought that she may have really hurt his feelings before she realized it was his turn.

"Sorry baby, it's just the way it is." Veronica quipped as he took his place at the throw line. First dart off and it was a miss. "You want some pointers?"

"No, I don't need any pointers." His voice was snappy and annoyed, it was really getting to him that he couldn't get the hang of this game.

"Okay, but you're holding the dart too tight and–"

"What did I say about the pointers?" Logan snapped, firing off the second dart and getting a thirteen. It wasn't the highest he could've gotten, but it wasn't the lowest either. After the third dart was thrown and hit the outer 'no point' ring he returned to Veronica, head down with a pout on his face, his voice pathetic. "I hate this game."

"How about we play some pool next, huh?" Veronica offered, she wasn't particularly good at pool, it would boost his ego a little to be able to beat her at one of his precious bar games. "I don't know why you guys decided to play darts in the first place."

"There were no empty pool tables." Logan explained, resting his forehead against her shoulder before taking a nip at it. His teeth scraped against her skin lightly before he pressed his lips to the same spot. Long arms wrapped around her and squeezed her tightly to him, his nose burying itself deep into the crook of her neck.

Veronica's hand reached up to run through his hair, kneading a little as it went. Logan let out a soft groan in response, he shifted so he was now pressing openmouthed kisses into her neck. He squeezed her even tighter as his tongue slipped out of his mouth and slid against her skin, licking her neck a little before softly biting it. She let out a soft hum approval, knowing she _should_ be embarrassed by the fact that they were doing this in public, but she couldn't bring herself to care. It seemed that the alcohol in both her and Logan's systems had done nothing to temper their desire for each other, but it had lowered their natural inclination to keep it _private_.

"Guys, could you stop dry humping long enough for Logan to take his turn?" Dick's voice broke through alcohol enhanced horny haze, causing the pair to break apart.

"We weren't dry humping, we were necking." Logan corrected, unable to keep the grin off his face. Dick and Weevil just rolled their eyes, unimpressed with Logan and Veronica's behavior. Jessie on the other hand seemed to get a kick out the fact that they seemed to be so uninhibited in their relationship.

"It's so sweet how you two are, practically all over each other. How long have you been together?" Jessie questioned, and Veronica was suddenly unsure how to answer the question. It was true that they'd only been back together for about a day and a half, but they'd been dating on and off for nearly three and half years. But the question was whether or not this girl, who was undoubtedly not going to be in their lives for much longer, should know that.

The

"About three and a half years." Logan responded, he had always like to completely disregard their time apart. He'd always hated it when they were broken up, and when they got back together he had a tendency to completely ignore their time apart and anything that might have happened in between. To him it simply didn't matter, because when he was with her he was _with her_. No one else and nothing else mattered.

"Wow, such a long time. I can totally tell that you're one of those couples that are madly in love with each other. Completely devoted." Jessie let out a dreamy sigh, her gaze locked on the pair. Veronica wished, not for the first time, that the girl didn't find it necessary to fill the silence with chit chat. She hated chit chat, especially with this complete stranger. It was just so… awkward.

* * *

**A/N:** Remember feedback is love. Plus, I'm unusually (more) nervous about this story because I've been flipping back and forth between this and another story I'm writing (a rather long multi-chapter AU story that I'm trying to get at least half finished before I start posting) and they are such different stories that I'm nervous about this fitting in with the rest of the story. Let me know, it's your duty as readers. I pretty much know exactly what I want to write for the last couple of chapter of this story, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the in between chapters. I'm kind of excited that I'm able to post this so soon after my last chapter (yay!), and I've already started on the next chapter, so with any luck I'll post that even quicker.

This story is quite a bit longer than I had originally thought it would be (I was going to say 'planned' but if I'm being honest I rarely 'plan' my stories out well enough to be able to say that). It's 176 pages and just over 76,000 words (76,086 to be exact). I don't know how many chapters are left but I hope I still have some readers. And I know these last couple of chapters have been rather fluffy, but it will change a bit in the next chapter (I think, if I've planned it out right).


	28. 25 Closing

**Title:** The Return 25-Closing Time

**Rating:** R (underage use of alcohol, an f-bomb, mentions of nudity and mentions of drug use)

**Word Count:** 3,992

**Characters/Pairings:** Duncan, Parker, Mac, Dick, Piz, Wallace, Weevil, OFC, Lilly the first, OMC, Logan Veronica _(mentions of: Lilly the second) Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, inothing/i. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**25**

**Closing Time**

~Duncan~

The music was loud, swelling and triumphant, and completely disrupting his sleep. He tried to roll over, get comfortable again and fall back asleep. _Lilly is probably watching a movie._ He thought as he rolled into what would have been his very large mattress, but rolled right off the couch instead.

"Oof." Duncan's breath was knocked out of him as he landed on the floor. His eyes slowly opened and focused on… a table leg? After blinking a couple more times his eyes finally focused completely in the mostly dark room. The television was flickering a little now, lighting up the room as the credits of their movie rolled by. It was just enough light for him to see Parker's face. Her mouth was hanging open, slack jawed as she drooled a little on one of the throw pillows. She was curled up on the other side of the couch, his feet must have been resting on her.

Duncan sat up and reached for the remote, pulling it out of her hand ever so carefully, not to wake her up. He muted it first, before hitting the menu button. Turned out that the music had been just loud enough to drown out Parker's slightly snoring. It wasn't as grating as some people who shall remain nameless. _Lilly when she was hammered. And Logan for that matter._ It was kind of a cute little snort, kind of funny. He bit his bottom lip in an attempt to keep from laughing as he navigated to the scene selection menu.

He'd really wanted to see _Goonies_, had practically begged Parker to watch it. When they had been younger, Logan, Lilly, Veronica and Duncan had watched to movie on a weekly basis, but he hadn't seen it once since Lilly's coma. He probably should've waited to watch it with them, as some sort of celebration that they were all back together, but it somehow didn't seem like such a big deal now as it would have back then. Sharing the group's traditions with others? They'd been doing that all weekend. Sharing things and letting new people in, something none them had ever been too good at.

"What?" Parker jerked awake, sitting up abruptly and looking around in a slight panic.

"I didn't say anything." Duncan bit into his lip again, trying desperately not to laugh at her.

"Sorry, I just, I don't know. I was just really confused for a second there." She tried to wipe at her mouth without him noticing, but blushed when she saw him watching her.

"You snore too." Duncan added, leaning back against the couch.

"Yeah, probably because of the weird position." She didn't seem overly concerned or embarrassed about that, just the drool part. "Why are you on the floor?"

"Fell of the couch."

"We must not have been asleep very long, we're only a little past the last part I remember." Parker uncoiled herself from her current position, taking up the whole couch in the process. She stretched, arching her back and yawning loudly as she did so, catching Duncan's attention.

"This is the last part I remember too. Maybe we should just head up to bed instead. You seem tired and I know I am." Duncan picked the remote back up, shutting off the television and DVD player. He stood, pushing up off the couch before reaching down to help Parker to her feet.

Parker gripped his hand and stood up, she stretched again with another yawn. "Maybe you're right, too bad though. Our Super-Eighties-Marathon will have to wait for another night."

"We made it through the _Breakfast Club_, it's almost one-thirty. I think that turning in will be best for both of us, but my first night out of the joint, we'll have an Eighties Night. I promise." Duncan headed for the stairs with her following close behind.

"Should we leave a note about the dishwasher? You know, so if people get up before us they know not to use it?" She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at him and back in the direction of the kitchen like she wanted to do it, but she was too tired to walk that far. Right now she looked like she would barely make it up the stairs.

"Are you kidding? We're going to be the first ones up. Everyone else is going to be hung over or sleeping in due to the late night. Plus Little Lilly isn't going to let me sleep in." Duncan jerked his head towards the top of the staircase, gesturing for her to follow, as he continued to climb the stairs.

"Okay." She agreed easily a moment later, following him to the top. They stopped there, looking at each other. He was down the hall from his room and she still had another flight of stairs to go before she got to the room she 'shared' with Mac, who was really sleeping in with Dick.

"Night." Her voice was tired and her shoulders hunched over as she headed for the next flight of stairs.

"You know, you could probably stay in Veronica's room. She moved all her stuff into Logan's room." Duncan offered, feeling sorry for her. He remembered what it was like to have to climb those stairs, he'd done it once upon a time when the rooms on this floor had been taken and he'd had to sleep up there.

Parker's face twisted up a little, a deep V forming between her eyebrows as she considered it. She stared at the closed door.

"She changed the sheets and put the other ones in the wash." Duncan assured her, guessing at what was probably causing her hesitation. Logan and Veronica had reunited in that room last night. They'd all heard.

"Okay, but I'm definitely locking the door. Just in case they're drunk and forget where they're sleeping tonight." Parker walked past him to the second door on the right. "It's a good thing I'm already in my PJs because I do _not_ want to go up more stairs."

Duncan chuckled a little, pausing right outside the door. "Night, get some sleep."

"Thanks Dunc, you too." She smiled wanly, before closing the door.

He continued on to his room, taking care not to wake his daughter.

* * *

~Mac~

"When do you think we're going to head home?" Mac asked, leaning back into Dick as they both scanned the room, checking up on their friends who were scattered throughout the bar.

"I don't know, but we can't stay any later than two, bar closes then." Dick's voice was strained as he watched Lilly dirty dancing with two guys. It was the kind of dancing what would make Patrick Swayze proud. "Should I go over there and stop that? She's wasted, probably because her and Ronnie have each had about five of those pink drinks. And those usually have way more alcohol than regular beer. Plus neither one of them are very big drinkers as of late. It's been years for Lilly and I don't think Veronica's had anything alcoholic since before the coma either."

"She had an Irish coffee once at the beginning of last school year." Mac corrected as she straightened up. She turned to see Dick's eyebrows shoot up in an astonished look. "Not on purpose, Irish coffees were something different at Java the Hut. "But maybe we should leave Lilly alone for now, but keep an eye on her that nothing happens in the next…" Mac checked her watch, "…twenty minutes."

"Okay, but if either of those guys start getting rough with her I'm going over there." Dick assured her, his eyes glued to the threesome on the dance floor.

"I have no problem with that." Mac settled back against him as she watched Piz drop a number into his cup and practically prance away. He was getting cocky about it, knew he was winning. "We should probably stop the contest at some point too, because those cups are getting pretty full."

Dick reached out and handed her Wallace's cup before he dumped out Piz's and started counting. Mac followed his lead, and began counting Wallace's numbers.

* * *

~Piz~

"So, who won?" Piz asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. He was feeling pretty good. Pleasantly buzzed, or maybe slightly more, and armed with the knowledge that he had probably won. _Thanks Logan and Dick._ It's not like he ever intended to use the advice at home and he was taking it seriously as something he would do ever again, but just this once… He couldn't be stuck cleaning the whole dorm for a whole month by himself.

"Don't look so smug, Piz, you don't know if you won." Wallace's slightly annoyed voice cut into Piz's thoughts. It was sort of annoying the way Mac and Dick were dragging this out. "Will you just tell us already?"

"Patience young grasshoppah." Dick said with a poor imitation of a Japanese accent.

Mac reached forward and turned both cups so big black numbers printed under their names were visible.

"Yes! Yes-yes-yes-yes! Yessss!!!" Piz shouted, doing a small victory dance in front of the table.

"Noooooooooo!" Wallace shouted, dramatically falling to his knees and dropping his head into his hands.

"Looks like we'll have to be getting the French maid costume in Wallace's size." Mac commented, sliding the cups closer to their owners before sliding out of the booth. "Good thing you've got nice legs, Fennel."

"Very funny." Wallace mumbled, glaring at Mac's retreating back as she headed towards the bar where Weevil was still chatting up his redhead.

* * *

~Weevil~

"Do you like California? I mean, you're pretty close to LA, right? I've been thinking about moving closer to LA, trying my hand at acting. I know that barely anyone ever makes it and all, but I think I really might have a shot, you know?" Jessie yammered on and on about California and Neptune and acting and celebrities. It really could've gotten on his nerves if he had been paying attention. Good thing he'd tuned out about ten minutes ago.

"Anyway, you're friends are all really pretty. The girls I mean. Did you date any of them?" Jessie's voice was tense, there was a hint of nerves. Or jealousy, he wasn't really sure.

"Not really." _We never dated, just snuck around and screwed each other's brains out._ Weevil didn't bother adding that last part, she didn't need to know. She also didn't need to know about the tiny crush he'd had on Veronica in high school. He'd thankfully gotten over that by time he'd gotten out of prison. Or the fact that he'd always that Mac was kind of cute.

"Cool. So I was thinking that maybe we should get out of…" Her voice trailed off, catching his attention and causing him to look up. Her focus had been drawn to Mac, who was now standing next to them. "Here."

"Hey, I think that we're all going to be leaving in a few minutes. The bar is probably going to be closing, so Dick and I were wondering if you were going to ride back with us." Mac's eyes were flicking between him and Jessie, her eyebrows raised in question.

Weevil let the question linger as he thought about it. He could leave with Jessie, probably get laid, and then head home after. Of course then he'd have to call someone to come get him. Piz and Wallace would be hung over. Logan and Veronica, on top of being hung over would undoubtedly would be in the middle of doing something else and would probably flat out refuse to get out of bed and pick his ass up. He would never call Dick for a ride, but if he was sleeping with Mac there was no chance they'd come get him. He didn't have enough of a relationship with Parker that would justify calling her, and Duncan had the baby. There was no way in hell he'd ever call Lilly. Lilly.

"I-" Weevil started before his voice choked off. Lilly was in the middle of two guys, her dancing a whole hell of a lot naughtier as she made out with guy number one. Weevil felt something shift, a shock to his system and a feeling of disappointment before straightening up and quickly looking back to Mac. "Jessie and I were going to get out of here. I'll call tomorrow for a ride, okay?"

Mac let her eyes drift subtly in the direction that Weevil had just been looking. He saw the moment when she noticed Lilly and understood. She nodded and began to back away. "Okay, call in the morning. You got my number?"

"Yeah, I have it." Weevil let his head hang a little, not able to look Mac in the eye. He'd thought he was over this. So he'd been in love with her when he was 15, that was almost five years ago. Her acting like this, hanging on other guys, shouldn't affect him like this anymore, he'd gotten over it. He'd been over it the moment he found out about her and Aaron Echolls. Or he thought he'd been over it, but now, after that feeling of disappointment, he knew that he'd only been biding his time until she got tired of the games and came back to him.

"Okay, I'll talk to you in the morning." Mac turned and walked away, leaving him alone with Jessie.

* * *

~Lilly~

She could see him there, at the bar, still chatting with the redhead. _Since when is he so big on the small talk?_ He'd never been so interested in talking to _her_ when they'd been together. Now, here he was, talking endlessly with some random girl he'd probably never see again.

If she was honest with herself, let herself remember what they were like with they were together, she'd have to admit that the not talking thing might have been more her rule than his. It'd been so silly of her, to think that cutting the chit-chat out would mean that they wouldn't get attached. She'd been so set on making him her no-strings fling that she'd practically forced them into this situation. Him not being able to trust her or open up to her again. She'd told him earlier that she'd never thought of him as a toy, but if she was honest with herself now, it was a lie. He was supposed to be a toy. She'd tried very hard to make him into just a toy, and in the end, that's all he had seemed to be. But he wasn't. He was more to her than that. She'd loved Logan, he'd been her first love, puppy love. Eli had been actual love. He was able to keep up with her, and didn't fall for her schemes and called her on her shit. They'd never talked, never had conversations or discussed their days, but they'd fought. Fought over her continued involvement with Logan, fought over whatever stunt she'd pulled at school, and on one memorable occasion, they'd fought about some of the more dangerous things his little gang did. Still, at the end of the day, she'd always tried to make it clear that he was nothing more than a toy.

She put more effort into dancing. It had been a long time since she'd been out partying. Since she'd had anything to drink that wasn't water, juice or milk. She didn't remember alcohol making her this introspective, this wasn't fun. This wasn't the escape she was hoping for when they'd all decided to go out tonight.

She focused on the guy in front of her, pulled him closer. _Boys are always good for a distraction, especially from other boys._ The thought passed through her head as she pulled Mr. Big and Beefy's head down to hers, attached her lips to his and shoved her tongue into his mouth. The kiss was wet and sloppy, he was nearly as drunk as she was. She felt her body attempt to pull away, a reaction she had been completely in control of. She'd kissed random guys before, but this was different. If felt wrong this time, like she should know better. The guy behind her ground himself into her backside, and her body was repelled by that as well. She pulled away from Mr. Big and Beefy to swat at Mr. Grabby Hands behind her.

Lilly stood awkwardly in between the two guys. Mr. Grabby Hands' grabby hands were on her hips, his fingers digging into her skin as he tried to pull her closer and she resisted. Mr. Big and Beefy's hands were in her hair, trying to pull her into another kiss, she resisted that as well.

"Lilly, time to go." Dick's voice boomed, his hand wrapping around her wrist to pull her away from the boys. "Say goodbye to your friends." He practically dragged her away, across the barroom floor to join Wallace, Piz and Mac, standing next to the booth they'd occupied all night.

"Thanks Dick." Lilly murmured, her eyes flitting over to the bar in search of Eli. He wasn't there. She whipped her head around, no longer attempting to hide the fact that she was looking for him. He wasn't in the bar anymore, not at the jukebox, the pool table, the darts area, definitely not near the couple making out in the dark corner. And finally, she spotted him, causing her to freeze. It was as if time slowed down, like in a movie. He was there, his hand in the redhead's as she pulled him along towards the exit. She swung around to presser her mouth to his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss for a moment before he pulled away. This time he tugged her towards the door, causing her to giggle. They disappeared, leaving only a sick feeling in Lilly's stomach as she watched the door swing shut.

* * *

~Logan~

"Alright everyone, bar is closing. Settle up and go home." The lady bartending called from the bar. Suddenly the lights were brighter in this dark little corner that he and Veronica had found.

"Uh-uh," Veronica murmured, shaking her head in denial as she pulled Logan's face back down to hers. "Not yet, we're busy."

"I don't think that they'll really care all that much about the interruption, baby." Logan told her even as he lowered his head of his own power. Even as he backed her further into the corner and clutched at her back. Her hands were driving him to distraction, pulling his attention away from the fact that they were seconds away from discovery. One hand played with the short hairs at the base of his neck, making him shiver. The other was clutching at his shoulder, the fingers slipped underneath his shirt, adding just enough contact to make him burn.

"Mmmm…" She hummed as he worked his way down her neck. He could feel the vibration against his lips, inflaming him a little more. He was let his hands slips from her back to her waist, slipping under the smooth fabric of her top to press against her skin. She gasped at that.

"Come on folks, time to go." The woman called again, cutting through the Logan's haze for a moment.

"We should…" He began, his mouth still pressed to her skin, causing her to moan. "Oh, God." One of Veronica's legs wrapped around his and began rubbing up and down seductively.

"We should what?" Her voice was breathless, and caught on the last word as he nipped at her with his teeth, catching the skin at the base of her neck briefly before releasing it again.

"Go." The word burst out of him as Veronica's hands slid down his back and sliding into the back pockets of his jeans, cupping his ass and pulling him closer at the same time.

"But I'm having so much fun here." Her voice still sounded breathy but affected with faux innocence. Logan pulled back a little to look into her eyes. The expression in her eyes made him smirk as he leaned forward to kiss her again.

The kiss grew deeper, more intense, as he let his own hands wander further down her body, gripping the back of her thighs in a move meant to lift her against him. He tugged up, her body rose a little, sliding between him and the wall and he could feel her legs begin to curl, begin to wrap around his waist.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Mac's voice interrupted, cutting through the feeling that they were alone in the world.

Logan's mouth tore away from Veronica's, his hands releasing their grip on her thighs. Veronica didn't pull her legs away, let them stay wrapped around his own thighs as she looked up at him. She was trapped between him and the wall, her chest pressed tightly against his, her back against the wall. She let her legs fall away, dangling an inch or two above the battered wooden floor of the bar. Logan stared into her eyes for a moment more before he pushed away from her and heard the small thump of her feet hitting the ground.

"Are you insane? You were practically having sex right there against the bar wall. In _public_!" Mac's voice rose to a higher pitch, as her head whipped from side to side to make sure no one was watching them even though there was barely anyone left in the bar.

"We just got a little carried away." Veronica explained, taking a step away from the wall, placing herself between Mac and Logan.

"A _little_ carried away?" Mac repeated in a disbelieving voice. "You _must_ be drunk to get carried away like that in public."

"Is there a reason you interrupted?" Logan asked, annoyed at the interruption as he wrapped arms around his girlfriend's waist from behind. His eyes narrowed a little, focusing on the small red spot where he'd nipped at her earlier. He bent his head down to nip at it again, sliding his tongue over it before sucking it into his mouth. He'd never given Veronica a hickey before but he had always wanted to.

Veronica's head lolled to the opposite side, giving him more access as she let a loose a low hum of approval.

"Ohmygod, you guys are _so _wasted." Mac rushed out, her voice slightly high pitched as she reached forward and tugged Veronica out of his arms. "Time to go. _Now_!"

Logan released Veronica except for her hand, allowing himself to be dragged along behind her and Mac. They stopped momentarily by the booth, Mac shoved jackets and a purse at them and then pulled them toward the exit.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Veronica asked dazedly, her hand tugging Logan closer to her.

"They already left. Dick took Wallace, Piz and Lilly to go pick up tacos. Drunk food." Mac replied as she stopped next to the car. She released Veronica's hand as she dug in her purse in search of the keys. "Do you guys want anything?" Mac looked up at them, her eyes focusing on Logan's face before she blushed slightly and returned to her search for the keys, quickly adding "Tacos I mean?"

"No, I think we're good." Logan replied, spinning Veronica around to back her up against the car.

"Here they are." Mac pulled the keys out of her purse, frantically pressing the unlock button. "Get in."

Veronica reached behind her to pull open the back door on the driver's side. She moved to the left in order to open it. "I think we'll take the backseat."

Veronica finally released Logan's hand in order to slide backwards into the backseat. Logan grinned, casting a short glance at Mac's slightly panicked look before he crawled in after her.

* * *

**A/N: **Look at that, I got something written and posted. Yay me. Now remember, feedback is love and it's been a while since I had something posted.


	29. 26 Drunks

**Title:** The Return 26-Drunks  
**Rating:** NC-17 (there's some sexin, and some drunks - okay, lots of drunks - and little bit of swearing, but it's mostly the sexin)  
**Word Count:** 5,804  
**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Veronica, Mac, Dick, Piz, Wallace, Lilly the first i(mentions of: Duncan, Lilly the second, Weevil, OFC and Cassidy/Beaver) Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick/i  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, inothing/i. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

**

* * *

The Return**  
**26**  
**Drunks**

~Logan~

"Could you guys, you know, hold it? At least until we're home and I'm far away?" Mac's panicked question drifted through Logan's haze. Veronica squirmed next to him, giggling as she let her right hand drift over his abdomen. Her left hand had drifted up his back and was now pushing against the back of his head, forcing him to turn his face back to her, forcing his mouth back down to hers. Okay, forcing is a bit too strong of word. Guiding maybe.

"Yeah, sure." He mumbled as he let Veronica take control, pressing his lips against hers, sweeping his tongue into her mouth as he tried, yet again, to lower her down to the seat. Another giggle escaped her and he felt her head move back and forth slightly, protesting without ever breaking off the kiss.

Logan pulled back a little, looking down at her, his eyes focused once again to the spot at the base of her neck. It was reddened by all the attention he'd shown it tonight, but not red enough. Not a hickey. Yet. He lowered his head again. She leaned forward to meet him halfway, but he dodged her lips and went straight for her neck. He kissed his way down, nipping at her skin as he went. He pressed into her again, and this time she caved, let him lay her down on the backseat as she let out a long low moan.

Suddenly the car lurched and Logan's arms flung out in order to steady himself and Veronica, keep them from rolling off the seat completely onto the floor. If he ended up on the floor he'd stay there, stuck, until they got home.

Veronica shoved at his chest, pushing him up and off her. They both popped up into sitting positions, Veronica's head whipping around almost comically as she tried to figure out why Mac had slammed on the breaks. There was no one in the road, no car in front of them, no stop sign or light. "What the-" Veronica started, but was interrupted by Mac's near hysterical voice.

"Okay, new rule." Mac turned in her seat, filling up the space between the front seats. "If I can't see you in the review mirror I'm gonna slam on the brake. And this is your one warning, next time I have to do it, one of you is moving to the front seat." With that, she put the car back into drive and hit the gas, making the vehicle lurch again before squealing on the pavement.

"Careful on the Rover, Mac-attack." Logan called to her, his eyes bugging out at the abuse she was putting it through. "Jeez."

"Get over it, I'll feel better when we get home." Mac muttered, glancing in the review mirror, her eyes meeting Logan's. He let the look linger for a moment as he smirked, raised his eyebrows and then turned back to Veronica. He reattached his mouth to her neck, he arms snaking around her, hands pressing into her back, holding her up.

~*~

The car screeched to a stop in the driveway. Logan had to practically peel Veronica's hands off his upper arms in order to get out of the car. Mac stayed sitting in the driver's seat, still as a statue, looking straight forward.

"Mac, you gonna get out of the car?" He asked as he popped the back door open and slid out. He held out his arms for Veronica. She jumped into them without hesitation, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She smiled at him, biting her bottom lip as she dropped her forehead down, pressing it against his. She looked so happy.

"No, I think I'm going to wait out here for Dick and the others to get home." Her voice was still tense. "You go in." She finally moved, jerking her chin at the front door before returning to her statue-like position.

"Night, Mac." Veronica called sweetly as Logan carried her towards the front door. Her voice lowered, "I think we freaked her out, or embarrassed her or something."

"She'll get over it, baby." Logan set her down on her feet as they got to the front door. Logan reached out and turned the doorknob before looking down at her. She stared up at him, and he could see it. How she felt. It was right there in her eyes, the mask was gone and she was happy and they were together. Without thinking, without hesitation, he leaned down to kiss her. And what started as an innocent kiss, one that was only supposed to last a moment, was something more. Now it deepened and intensified, Veronica was leaning into him, her arms wrapping around him. He pushed the door open and stumbled through it, pulling her along with him.

Logan slammed Veronica against the inside of the door, shutting it in the process. The kiss went into overdrive, becoming more urgent. He pressed his hands against the door, using the leverage to kick off his shoes without breaking the kiss. As soon as his shoes were off Veronica settled her hands on his shoulders, using them to help her jump into him. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands slid from his shoulders and into his hair. She pulled his head forward, towards her mouth. They kissed again, and again the kiss turned urgent as he stumbled to the stairs. One hand gripped the banister and the other wrapped around Veronica's waist, holding her up as she released him, trying desperately to pull her own coat off before she began pushing at his. They struggled a bit before they finally got the zipper down and the coat off. He hadn't made it up two more steps before she reached between them to pop open the button to his pants. She tried to push the jeans down, tightening her legs to keep from falling. Logan stumbled up a couple more steps before he felt his jeans slide over his knees and settle around his ankles, one more step and he was out of them and Veronica was already inching her top up.

"Wa… Wait." Logan gasped, setting her down on the stair in front of him. She towered over him now, a rather unique position for her, as she pulled her pink top off quickly. She grinned as she let it slide from her fingers and land on the step next to her, already busy, already focused on his t-shirt.

"Didn't you give me permission to take advantage of your drunk self?" She questioned, her hands tugging at the green material, but it would come off without him raising his arms.

"That you're fully allowed to take advantage of my drunken self." He'd told her that only moments after he'd put on the shirt she was so desperately trying to get off him now.

"Yes, I did." Logan gasped out as he raised his hands, letting her pull the shirt off. She dropped it, letting if fall wherever as she backed up the stairs, moving further away from him as he reached out for her. He followed after, his arms out stretched. She unbuttoned the top button on her jeans as she made it to the top of the staircase, he stumbled up another step. She pulled the zipper down as she backed up to their bedroom door, he basically crawled up the final three steps.

Veronica reached back and turned the knob, pushing the door open and her pants down in one smooth and swift motion. Logan hurried after her, pushing down his boxers and slammed the door shut. His arms wrapped around her, hands traveling up her back to her bra clasp, undoing and pulling off the garment. He pressed her into the door, his mouth falling to her chin, her neck, should, clavicle, breast. He worked his way across her body, kissing his way back up to her mouth. His hands held her head in place as he ravaged her mouth, cupped her shoulders as he licked and nipped and kissed her neck, kneading her breasts as he kissed her shoulders, skimming down her stomach, pulling at her hips as he kissed her breasts. His fingers tangled in her underwear as he lost himself in their kiss again. He began to lower her underwear, lowering himself down in front of her.

He was on his knees before her now, pulled the white, lacy thong off. He looked up at her, caught her gaze for a moment as she lifted each foot off the ground so he could slide them off. He began to rise.

"Condom." His brow furrowed for a moment, remembering the protection he had in the back pocket of his jeans. She held up a square packet, gold foil, grinning. "Picked your pocket." Then she put the square to her mouth and tore it open, extracting the prize.

The condom packet fluttered down to floor beside him, he stood in front of her, grinning as she reached down and put the condom on him. His hands gripped her hips, lifting her up against the door again, pressing her between it and him. He buried his face in the crook of her neck as she guided him in.

"Oh God," she gasped out as soon as he was fully inside her. He pulled out slowly before slamming back into her. Her back arched off the door, pressing more of her skin into his. He pulled his face away from her neck and began kissing anything with in reach. His fingers dug into her hips, pushing and pulling them as he thrust in and out of her. The door rattled in it's frame behind her with every push and pull, every in and out. Her arms hooked under his, wrapping around his back, pulling his chest tighter against hers. Their skin was heated and flushed, sticky with sweat. She bit her lip and gasped, moaned and called out, nothing making sense. Don't stop… right… oh, god… need… want… yes… "I love you."

"Shit, oh god, Veronica…" Logan called out as he came, unable to control his response to her declaration. He sagged against her, his hands moving from her hips to wrap around her waist, holding her to him but letting the door take their weight. His forehead pressed against her shoulder, he breath coming out in harsh and raspy. "Oh god, baby…"

"Logan…" Her voice was velvety and deep, consoling as she let her hands drift over his back.

He lifted her again, his arms tightening as he pushed them away from the door. He carried her to the bed, lowering her to it gently, letting their bodies part. Veronica crawled backwards up the bed, using her elbows and heels to push her back. Her head bumped against the headboard, stopping her.

"I'll make it up to you." Logan told her in his own gravely voice, before he crawled onto the bed after her. He pressed kisses into her mouth, not allowing her to deepen them. He kissed his way back down her body, settling himself between her legs, pushing them further apart. His hands slid over her knees reverently, his thumb trailing over them, the ran smoothly over her inner thighs, lowering to cup her ass and pull her closer to his mouth.

"Oh my god," She yelled out, arching up off the bed, her hands pressing against the mattress. She relaxed a little, her back still arched a little, but now her hands were in his hair, twisting the strands until her fingers were tight against his scalp. His tongue worked against her, causing her hips to rock, almost moving of their own freewill. She hummed low in her throat, calling out his name and to god. Calling out worlds of want and need and love, finally coming against his mouth. He lapped at her a few more times before back off. He crawled up her body, kissing her skin along the way, lingering at her belly button, on her breasts and neck, before he finally reached her mouth again.

Logan kissed her deeply, reaching out to the bedside table for another condom. Her hands roamed over his back, gripping at his shoulders and hips, gliding down his spin, fluttering over his sides. His own fingers closed over the box of condoms, he fumbled a bit to extract one. Veronica's hands slowed, one pressing lightly at the base of his neck before the tipped, curled until the very edge of her nails were pressing into his skin. She slowly began running her nails along his spine, exerting enough pressure so he could feel how sharp they were but not enough to really hurt. He dropped the condom, pressing his hands into the mattress on either side of her head, arched his back and lifted his upper body off her completely. He let out a long, low groan as she got lower, stopping just below his ass.

"I love it when you do that." He gasped out as he lowered his body back down to hers, licking his lips.

"I know." She said it with a smirk as she started running her nails back up, causing him to shiver. His mouth crashed back down onto hers, his hand finding the condom again, working to open the package. When he'd finally torn into it, he reached between them to put it on, breaking off the kiss.

"I think I'm ready for round two."

* * *

~Dick~

"Seriously, if you guys don't shut up back there I'm going to kick your ass." Dick yelled, glancing in the review mirror at Piz and Wallace. They were chattering on and on and on about the phone numbers they'd gotten and how it was too bad that they'd never get to use them. They'd have to go out and get numbers when they got back home, back to some college party next weekend.

"But seriously, if we can get that many numbers… Hey Lilly, you okay?" Piz asked, leaning into the space between the seats. Lilly was sitting in the front seat, almost completely silent for the last few seconds. The four of them were cramped into Mac's car, Dick was still confused how she had talked him into letting her drive Logan's can back instead.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine." Lilly assured them in a loud voice, a grin on her face as she listened to them go back to discussing college parties and girls and phone numbers. They moved on to discussing a girl that Wallace had been seeing or thinking about asking out or something. Lilly voice dropped lower, so only Dick could hear her. "It was an interesting night."

"No kidding. Logan and Veronica were all over each other, they don't usually do that in public." Dick commented, making the turn onto the road that would lead them home. Lilly clutched at the bag of tacos, making sure they didn't spill. Mac had threatened them against getting lettuce all over the place, making Lilly fearful. Dick smirked at Lilly being afraid of Mac, even just a little.

"Not like he was with me? That's good." Lilly glanced at him, catching his confused look. "Lately I've been wishing that I didn't play so many games before I was… well, before. The whole making out in public, taking it too far, that was part of it. Me, trying to show how grown up I was, show how I didn't care about the rules, about getting caught."

"Well, you know Veronica…" Dick muttered, almost uncomfortable with this open and regretful Lilly.

"Yeah, Ronica was never one for public displays, whether it was affection or not." She looked out her window then, off into the darkness. Dick glanced over and saw her sad reflection, he turned his attention back to the road in front of him. He heard her sigh once before continuing. "I know, I'm not very fun at the moment. It's been off and on like this all night. One moment I'm totally happy and excited and having fun, the next I'm completely depressing. It's weird, but I maybe this is what happens if you take a four year long break from the party and then jump back in."

"Maybe, it's been a really weird night all around." Dick assured her, feeling compelled to make her feel better. He was her only tether to the past in this car, possibly the only one still awake at this point. Everyone else was so new and she was still so messed up. "I mean, I'm rarely ever sober for something like this, and it was the first time Mac and I were out as a couple. And Duncan was there, and then he left. Then there was the bet between Veronica's sidekick and the puppy, and Logan gave the puppy tips on how to pick up girls. It was just, strange."

"The puppy?"

"Piz, he followed Veronica around like a puppy all last year." Dick explained, glancing in the mirror again to make sure that the boys in the back weren't following the conversation.

"Oh."

"Yeah. It was a strange night." Dick finished lamely.

"Yeah, a strange night." Lilly repeated, her voice even quieter for a moment. "But nice."

"Yeah, it was nice." Dick smiled at her, taking his eyes off the road for just a moment to look at her. She was smiling back.

"Yeah, nice." Lilly let out a small laugh before turning in her seat to look at Wallace and Piz.

"Nice." Dick whispered again, pulling into the driveway next to Logan's Range Rover, he put the car in reverse and got out as quickly as he could, Wallace already pushing at the back of his seat in an effort to get out.

"Hurry up man, I'm hungry." Wallace complained when Dick didn't move fast enough for him. Lilly was already out, clutching the bag of tacos as Piz scurried out after her.

"Damn dude, I'm going as fast as I can." Dick muttered angrily as he stepped back for Wallace to climb out of the car and lope after Piz and Lilly, who were already halfway to the front porch. Dick leaned back into the car to grab the keys out of the ignition as he heard them crash through the front door, forgetting to close it behind them. "Drunk asses."

Dick stood up again, looking down at Mac's key ring, fidgeting with it, as he shut the car door. He took a couple steps before looking up, but when he did he jumped back a step. Mac stood there, leaning against the hood of her car, staring at him.

"You scared me, I thought you'd be in the house." Dick stated, regaining his composure. She straightened up, falling into step beside him.

"Sorry, but I thought I'd give them a head start." Mac explained.

"Piz and Wallace? Afraid they'd trample you?" Dick asked, bemused the thought. "You guys been home long? You didn't have to wait out here for me."

"No, I was giving Logan and Veronica a head start, to get inside and to their room before I followed. I've never seen them like that, all over each other, barely contained." She clarified, bumping her shoulder into his arm once or twice. He lifted it up for her, wrapping it around her shoulders as she leaned into him.

"Were they that bad?" Dick questioned, his brow furrowing. True, he hadn't seen Veronica drunk in a really long time, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her lose control either. Although, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure there'd ever been an instant in the past where she was drunk and he was not.

"I had to slam on the brakes at one point because I was convinced that they were going to go for home in the backseat." He felt Mac shudder under his arm as the reached the front door.

"Poor baby, I promise next time I'll take Logan and Veronica and you can deal with the chatterboxes in the back seat and Sullen Lilly in the front." Dick assured her, giving her shoulder a squeeze before releasing her.

"Lilly? Sullen?" Mac's eyes widened in shock.

"Yeah, she's like the bipolar drunk girl. First she's giggling with Frick and Frack and then she's sighing and talking about how she regrets the way she was before. It was a little weird." He stepped back, letting Mac go through the door first. They hadn't even bothered to turn on the light on their way to the kitchen. Drunks.

"Oh my god!" Mac yelled as she stumbled forward tripping over something, then tripping over something else. Dick reached forward to grab her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back into him. She was nearly doubled over, grabbing onto the banister for support and leaning back into him for balance. Her butt collided with his groin, causing him to smirk and a small snort of amusement to escape.

"Mac, did you fake trip so you could put the moves on me?"

"What?"

"Are you getting fresh with me?" Dick asked as he reached back to flip the light switch.

"No, there's something…" Mac started indignantly, trailing off as light flooded the foyer. There were shoes scattered from the door to the stairs, two pair, Logan's and Veronica's. And if Dick had to guess it was their coats on the newel posts, pants and shirts strewn up the stairs. "Oh god."

Dick followed Mac up the stairs, careful to avoid the clothes scattered on the way up, a loose condom that had apparently fallen out of Logan's jeans. Veronica's top lay near the top, his eyebrows raised at that thought. The thought of Veronica standing in the hall in only her jeans and bra. He smirked. "They must have been in a hurry."

Logan's bedroom door rattled a little, then a little more, until it was a constant rattle, with a thumping sound.

"Oh my god." Mac whispered, reaching down to clutch his hand. There was a low and masculine moan suddenly. "Oh my god." Mac repeated, her voice a little more shrill.

"Apparently they're still in a hurry." Dick said, pressing his lips together, struggling not to laugh at the situation and the look of absolute horror on his girlfriend's face.

"They are not allowed to drink anymore." Mac squeaked, her voice panicked and rushed as she turned and fled up the second flight of stairs, toward the room they were sharing.

* * *

~Lilly~

"Is it weird?" Lilly asked, dumping both bags of tacos out on the kitchen table. "For you I mean."

"Who ya talkin to?" Wallace asked, reaching out and sliding a good portion of tacos towards himself.

"Piz. I was just wondering if it was weird for him to be here, with all of us. I mean, we've all known each other since we were little, with the exception of Wallace of course." She paused to smile at Wallace before continuing. "And even then, he's been part of the group for a few years now."

"It's a little weird, not knowing all the history and stuff I guess." Piz replied, focusing on his own taco for a moment. "You have no idea how confusing all the little pieces of information are."

"Like what?" Lilly asked, taking a taco for herself. She glanced at piles in front of boys before taking two more.

"Like the guy who had the pet beaver?" Piz asked, looking expectantly between Wallace and Lilly as he unwrapped a second taco.

Lilly snorted a laugh, struggling to control herself as she crammed her taco in her mouth, lettuce falling out the other end.

"What?" Wallace asked, his eyes wide and mouth full of taco.

"That guy, Cassidy or something, I don't know." Piz clarified, looking embarrassed now because Lilly wasn't even trying to control her laughing now. A pet beaver?

"Wait, you mean Cassidy Casablancas?" Wallace asked, dropping his taco back on the table and staring at Piz.

"I guess. Would that make him Dick's cousin or something?" Piz asked, looking at Wallace, obviously trying very hard to ignore Lilly.

"Brother." Wallace replied shortly.

"I didn't know Dick has a brother." Piz shrugged, and picked up his taco again. "How come we never see him?"

"Because he's dead, committed suicide on graduation night." Wallace's voice was cold, shut down, effectively ending both the conversation and Lilly's laughter.

"Beaver was his nickname, Piz." Lilly explained in a soft voice. She'd forgotten that part of the story, the part where little Cassidy Casablancas, who had been so sweet and shy when she'd known him, had jumped off the roof of the Grand after admitting to several murders, blowing up a plane and trying to kill both Veronica and Logan.

"Oh."

It was quiet for a few minutes, the only sounds were of taco wrappers rustling.

"Still, Beaver? That's a pretty crappy nickname." Piz burst out suddenly, like he couldn't contain it anymore. "It would suck to be called Beaver all the time. It's kind of weird, did he have buck teeth or something?"

"You, who goes by the name of Piz, think Beaver is a weird nickname?" Lilly asked, astonished, unwrapping her third taco.

"Yeah, at least I know how I got it. And it isn't like it's unheard of for guys to be called by their last names." Piz defended, sitting up straighter and narrowing his eyes a little. It was obvious he'd had to defend his name before.

"Okay, I guess. I don't remember how he got his nickname, probably from Dick, but he didn't like it, I remember that much." Lilly raised her taco to her mouth before rethinking it. Instead she got up and got a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Anything else you have questions on?"

"Lots, but I don't think anyone is ever going to be able to catch me up." Piz replied, his voice muffled by the fact that his mouth was full of food.

"Good, it's better if you don't know anyway." Wallace told him, sitting back in his chair, a pile of wrappers in front of him.

They were silent for just a few moments, just long enough for the silence to be interrupted by a thump thump sound. Lilly looked at Wallace again, his eyes wide with shock. Piz's eyes were wide also, his face red with embarrassment. It was just a few more moments before she cracked, the first laugh escaping her. It was only a second before Wallace joined in and Piz after that.

"Okay, are you guys tired or do you want to play a game?" Lilly asked, heading over to the cupboard where she knew the cards were kept.

"I could stay up a little later, depending on the game." Wallace replied, leaning forward to scoop up all the empty wrappers. "You gonna finish your last taco Lil, or should I toss it?"

"Toss it. You guys should get a couple bottles of water too if you want to avoid the hangovers." She pulled out a well-worn deck. There were doodles on the box, written in a purple pen and her curvy script. Logan, Duncan, Veronica and her had played with these cards so many times.

They all settled at the table, wrappers cleared, bottles of water and a pile of cheesy curls in front of each of them. Lilly shuffled the cards a few more times, let Wallace cut the deck and then dealt two cards to each of them.

"Alright, we'll play Texas Hold'em. A couple games and then we'll head up. Hopefully by then the lovebirds will have finished and we'll be able to sleep." Lilly checked her cards, careful not to let herself physically react and threw in one cheesy curl.

"I raise." Wallace said solemnly, putting in two curls.

"I fold." Piz threw in his cards and popped one of his cheesy curls in his mouth.

"No eating the money!" Lilly and Wallace both yelled.

* * *

~Parker~

"Parker Lee!" Her professor called from the front of the classroom. She stood, a swish of fabric following the noise. She glanced down at her dress. Long and pink and lots of tulle. The dress she wore to her senior prom.

"Y… Ye-Yes Sir?" Her voice trembled a little as she struggled to answer him.

"Can you tell me the answer?" His voice was stern and cold, his face was unsmiling as he looked at her expectantly.

"I'm ss-sorry, what was the question?" She sounded stronger this time.

"Oh God." He yelled, suddenly excited as he pointed to the board.

"But I don't understand." She yelled as she room began to spin. The students around her started to stamp their feet, filling her head with an off beat thumping sound.A breeze picked up from the spinning room, people were yelling. "Yes, Yes" some girl was calling out.

"Is that the answer?" Parker called, shivering from the cold breeze. She glanced down to find herself naked, she brought her hands up to cover herself as a deep, masculine voice grunted "Unnuh."

Parker shot up in bed, gasping, her hands clutching at her t-shirt, making sure it was still there. She began relaxing until she realized that the thumping and moaning hadn't stopped, and it was coming from the next room.

"Oh my god." Parker moaned as she grabbed her pillow and held it over her ears, trying to muffle the sound. It was no use. She crawled out of bed and quickly crossed the floor to the door. She opened it as quietly as possible and shut it again with the same care. She shuffled along the hall, trying to ignore the sounds coming from the room as she passed it on the way to the stairs.

The glow of lights from downstairs, catching her attention. "Don't eat the money!" shouted two familiar voices. She quickly descended the stairs, the sounds fading behind her except for the faint thumping noise. She tiptoed down the hall to the kitchen. Lilly, Wallace and Piz were sitting at the table playing cards, practically a whole bag of cheesy curls scattered across the table.

"Hey guys, what're you… you doing?" Parker asked, yawning."Playing Texas Hold 'em." Lilly supplied, smirking as she scooped up the pile of curls in the center of the table. "Wanna play?"

"Sure, I'm not going to get to sleep with all of that… racket." Parker blushed, sliding into the chair next to Lilly. Lilly dumped some cheesy curls in front of her while Wallace shuffled and dealt the cards.

"No kidding." Lilly offered a smile, but quickly averted her gaze. Parker accepted that Lilly didn't like her, that someone had probably told her to be nice, but it was better than Lilly lashing out and accusing her of stuff. "You know how to play?"

"Yeah, I know how to play." Parker checked her cards, threw in a curl and brushed her hair back.

"So everyone else is in bed?" Parker asked, throwing three curls in. Lilly raised an eyebrow and matched her bid. Ten minutes and three hands in and Lilly seemed surprised at how good Parker was. She'd learned how to play in high school, when her family would get together for big dinners she and all her cousins would sit around and play poker.

"Well, I'm sure Duncan and the baby are in bed." Lilly said, turning to look at Wallace. "You gonna match, raise, fold, what?"

"Hold on, I'm thinkin!" Wallace shot back concentrating on his cards a moment more before throwing them on the table. "Dammit, I fold."

"Mac and Dick went up as soon as we got home." Piz supplied as he laid down the last card. He was the dealer after loosing all his cheesy curls to Parker in the last hand.

"Obviously Logan and Veronica are in bed." Lilly said, smirking.

"I raise." Parker put in five curls and held back a grin as Lilly's eyebrows raised a moment before letting her poker face slip back into place. She matched the bid.

"Weevil left the bar with some girl, Jessie I think." Wallace muttered as he leaned back in his chair, stretching. He leaned forward and finished off his bottle of water. "It's quiet now, so I think I'll head up to bed. See y'all in the morning."

Parker nodded, glancing at Lilly. "Time to show your cards."

Lilly flipped her cards at the same time Parker did. Parker won, causing Lilly to swear under her breath.

"How is Weevil going to get home?" Parker asked, concerned.

"I don't know, walk?" Lilly muttered, her face averted as she counted out her remaining cheesy curls.

"No, Mac told him to call her in the morning, that she'd go get him." Piz cut him, causing Lilly to perk up.

Parker didn't know the whole story, but she had a feeling that Lilly still really liked Weevil.

"You know what, I'm going to head up to bed too." Lilly mumbled, pushing all her curls into the middle of the table. "I'm starting to feel a little dizzy from the alcohol. It was a good game, we'll have to have a rematch later."

"Yeah, definitely." Parker smiled, getting up to get a ziploc baggie for the curls since they'd pretty much massacred the original bag. Lilly shuffled out of the kitchen, heading upstairs to bed. "You gonna head up too?" She looked back at Piz. His head was on the table.

"I don't feel good." Piz complained, lifting his head up to look at her, a card stuck to his cheek. "I feel like I'm going to puke."

Parker leaned back, fearing that he might do so right there. He groaned and laid his head back down on the table. She let out a snort of laughter before grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge and the bottle of aspirin out of the cabinet.

Here, take two and drink the water. Why don't you head up to bed?" Piz took the pills gratefully, chasing them with a third of the water. "Thanks, I'll see you in the morning." He stood up, swayed a little. "Or maybe tomorrow afternoon."

Parker watched him walk out of the kitchen, the soles of his shoes scuffing along the tile. She finished putting the cheesy curls in the baggie. She wiped the table off and threw the bag of curls on the counter. She heard Piz stumble up the stairs a couple of times before he finally made it. She shook her head in amusement.

"Drunks." She said to herself as she shut the light off and headed back up to bed.


	30. 27 Logan

**Title:** The Return 27-Logan [The Rules]

**Rating:** PG-13 (there isn't really anything but some discussion of sex)

**Word Count:** 3,764

**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Veronica, Parker, Duncan, Lilly the second, Dick, Mac _Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**27**

**Logan**

**~The Rules~**

Logan rolled and groaned, cold toes dug into his right kidney and his left arm flopped off the bed. His head pounded and his stomach churned. It may have been a bad idea to keep drinking last night, to over indulge since his usually under indulging girlfriend was partaking as well. _Girlfriend_, the idea was still so new, again. Unless, of course, said new girlfriend's toes were currently performing invasive surgery in an attempt to steal your warmth.

"Could you please remove your toes? It's starting to hurt." He croaked, his throat raw from the early morning vomiting session he'd had the oh so embarrassing pleasure of.

"Do you have to be so loud about it?" Veronica whispered, wincing, but retracting the ice cubes she had the nerve to call toes.

"I wasn't loud, this is my regular speaking voice." Logan groused, turning onto his right side in as much of an effort to shield it from further toe-probing as to offer her a cuddle. She came to him quickly, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping her arms around him. Curling her legs up a little to wedge her toes in between his ankles, pressing them into his warm flesh and causing goose bumps to break out all over his body.

"Your normal voice is too loud, learn to whisper." She instructed, brushing her nose back and forth over the hollow at the base of his neck. It was also ice cold.

"It's not too loud, you're just over-sensitive." Logan argued, but still lowering his voice to a whisper. "Why are you so cold?" He pulled the covers up around them, wrapping them tighter before he pulled her in even tighter in an attempt to warm her.

"Because you're a freaking blanket thief." She relaxed in his grip, and he felt her skin start to warm. His goose bumps had faded and he began to relax as well. The pounding in his head was starting to ease off, but his stomach still churned. Veronica sighed, the burst of warm air fanning against his skin and causing him to shiver slightly.

"Cold?" Veronica asked, her voice edging above a whisper now. Her head shifted slightly to the side, her cheek pressing against his chest.

"No, not really." Logan smirked a little. "After all, I have all the blankets."

"I don't know why you'd need them anyway, you radiate heat. I could probably stand you in the corner of my apartment in the winter and not have to turn on the heater at all." She muttered, burrowing in a little further in.

"Are you saying I'm hot?" He mused, chuckling a little before the pain in his head sharpened a moment before easing off again.

"I just stepped right into-" Veronica stopped abruptly, her body stiffening. Before Logan could ask what was wrong she started to push at him, knocking him onto his back. She scrambled over him, running into the bathroom and slamming the door.

He could hear her retching on the other side, his hand hesitated on the doorknob for a moment before he made the decision. He opened the door only a little, slipping inside. She was hunched over the toilet, her hair falling all around, shielding both her from his view and him from hers. Reaching out, he gathered her hair back, holding it.

"Go away," she complained between gagging sounds.

"Nope." Logan argued, rubbing her back with his free hand. She didn't argue anymore, merely finished emptying her stomach before sagging back into the wall. Logan let go of her hair and handed her a glass of water. "Drink it all and take a couple aspirin while you're at it."

He stood and began rummaging through the medicine cabinet. It hadn't been cleaned out since the last time him parents were here obviously. Bottles of valium and vicodin, among other prescription drugs, cluttered the shelves. He finally found a nearly full bottle of ibuprofen near the back. He shook out two pills and handed them to Veronica before he started taking out the old bottles and dropping them into the trash.

"Suddenly you're cleaning." Veronica muttered, standing up. She set the glass down and kissed his shoulder before turning to the shower.

Logan finished cleaning out the medicine cabinet before stepping into the shower behind her.

* * *

"I can't believe that you do this almost every weekend." Veronica commented, digging through one of the drawers for a pair of jeans. Logan leaned back a moment to admire her, clad in only a simple pair of white cotton underwear and matching bra. It was sexy without her even trying.

"Do what every weekend?" He asked completely oblivious to anything but the way her body curved under the undergarments, the way it moved so gracefully as she pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Get hungover." She simplified as she searched for a shirt, seemingly unaware that he watched her dress.

"I don't get _hungover_, it's not exactly the effect I'm aiming for." He explained, watching as she tried to decide between a plane t-shirt and one with a something emblazoned across the front. She stood still a moment, looking at the shirts before deciding on the plain one. She pulled it over her head, covering all that lovely flesh. Immediately after she pulled on an old NHS hoodie. Green with a gold outline of a pirate decorating the front. She chattered on, aggravating his headache a little but he it was worth it for this casually intimate moment they were sharing. Him watching her dress as she chatted.

"But you know that's where you're going to end up after all that drinking. I mean, it's simple cause and effect. You drink to excess you get a bitch of a hangover the next day. I don't understand why you would do something that will only cause you to end up in pain for the majority of the next day." She turned to him, studying him. "Speaking of pain, I'm not leaving the room."

"What?" Logan shook himself out of his temporary happy-induced stupor. "Why?"

"I may have been a little… unihibited… last night, but I still remember it. I know that Mac is down there and I'm pretty sure that we may have traumatized her a bit with the backseat make out session on the way back from the bar last night." She was blushing now, actually blushing. Veronica wasn't all that much of a blusher these days, but she was blushing now. It made him want to pull her back down on the bed and get her out of the clothes she had just put on. He resisted.

"Are you going to get dressed at any point?" She asked, the blush fading now as she began to rummage through his own clothes. She pulled out a pair of boxers and a t-shirt for him, tossing them over her shoulder.

"Why should I? I don't know why you got dressed." He leered at her, wiggling his eyebrows and causing her to giggle.

"Because we're leaving remember? And I'm pretty sure it might be illegal to drive down the highway in the buff." She walked toward him, picking up the clothes she'd pulled out for him. She pulled the t-shirt over his head, pecking a kiss on his lips. "Plus you have to go down and get us breakfast, because, I'm not leaving this room."

"Why aren't you leaving the room if you're just worried about Mac?" He asked as he finished putting the t-shirt on.

She watched him pull on his boxers before she answered. "Because I have a feeling that my clothes from last night, with the exception of my underwear, never made it up the stairs." She was blushing again.

"Why do you say that?" Logan asked, crossing the room to the door.

"Because they're not in here."

* * *

Logan padded toward the kitchen, hearing the small giggle of the baby and the slightly larger one of Parker, the deeper chuckle of Duncan.

"So, what's for breakfast?" He asks as he enters the room, his voice startling the trio.

"Morning." Parker greets, she's standing at the stove, stirring something in a pot. There's a frying pan on the back burner, with the smell of sausage wafting out. It smells delicious even as his stomach churns slightly at the thought. "Oatmeal and sausage."

"Sounds good, is there enough for me to take up to Veronica?" He hops up on the counter, sitting on the close to the stove, crowding Parker's cooking space. He waits a moment before reaching across the hot burners to pluck a strawberry out of the bowl sitting on the other side.

"Those are for eating with your breakfast, not snacking on. And get down before you get burned." She scolds as she moves the bowl away from both him and Duncan.

"Yes mom." Logan slides off the counter smoothly before walking around the center island to take a seat next to Little Lilly. He lets her have a bite of his strawberry before finishing it off himself. The juice from the berry runs down her chin and both he and Duncan laugh as she tries to get it with her little tongue.

"I made enough for everyone, so yeah, you can take some up to Veronica." She looking at him but not, her eyes refusing to come up any more than his chin. She's blushing now too, and her eyes are darting away to look at anything but him.

"What? Why are you blushing Park?" Logan asks as he focuses his attention on Little Lilly, making a silly face and earning a giggle.

"No reason, I'm not blushing. I mean, I just… There's enough for you… and Veronica." She's stammering now, and blushing even redder. Her eyes are firmly focused on the counter in front of her and her hands are fluttering along the edge with nerves.

"What's wrong?" His attention is no longer focused on the baby and that earns him a squawk of dismay from her, but he continues to stare at Parker.

"Nothing, um… The oatmeal will take a few more minutes. It's not the instant kind so, it'll be a few more minutes." She turns back to the pot, signaling the end of the non-conversation.

"So, you guys sounded like you had fun last night." Duncan says, he's grinning at Logan in a way that confuses him even more.

"Why do you say that?" Logan asks slowly, his brow furrowing for a moment before speaking in a more normal tone. "I mean, yeah we had fun. We had a great time, wish you would have stayed man."

"Yeah, it sounded like you really missed me." Duncan's grin only seemed to widen as she shook his head and turned his attention back on his daughter.

"Morning." Dick called, announcing his entrance into the kitchen. "Logan, I'm surprised you up, and down here, so early."

"Why?" His voice was hesitant now, nervous as to where this was going, although he knew he'd get a straight answer out of Dick. And without the blushing.

"I'm just saying that after all the crazy loud sex you and Veronica had last night, I would have slept in if I were you."

Logan's head hit the table with a thud. "Oh god, she's never going to leave that room now."

* * *

He passed Mac on the stairs, she smiled tightly at him and avoided his eyes. He blushed. As secure as he was about his prowess, it didn't mean that he wanted all his friends to have front seat tickets to the performance. Even if they only got the audio and were spared the visual. Or, at least only one of them had gotten the visual, but that had been a different, and _tamer_, performance.

He set the tray on top of the tall dresser as he entered the room. Veronica was pulling the empty suitcases out of the closet, her book bag already out from under the bed and packed neatly by the door. She gotten the pile of clothes that Parker had neatly folded and put outside their door this morning. He hadn't noticed it when he'd gone down but it was gone now and she'd said that she'd left it there.

"We're leaving. Like, now." Veronica informed him, throwing her suitcase on top of the small desk and opening up. "Do you that everyone in the house apparently heard us going at it last night? I don't know how I'm going to be able to look at any of them without blushing when we all get home, I just know that I can't deal with this today."

"Breakfast." He announced cheerfully. "Sit down and eat, I brought you some oatmeal, sausage, strawberries and orange juice. There's some brown sugar for your oatmeal, too. Parker's like the house mom at this point, all she's missing is the apron and pearls."

"What'd they all say down there? Mac said that she hadn't seen anyone else yet, but her and Dick got an earful on their way up to their room. And they were the first ones up. She said that Parker didn't sleep in her room last night. She thinks that she probably fell asleep on the couch, so she probably didn't hear. And Duncan was already in bed so maybe he didn't either, but everyone else… We have to leave."

"We need rules." He blurted, shocked that he'd said it so bluntly. Or at all.

"They said we need rules? That's a little strange." Her brow furrowed, eyebrows pulled so closely together that they were practically one.

"No, they didn't really say anything. Well, Dick teased a little and Duncan thought it was funny. Parker may never be able to look at either of us again, but that's because she ended up crashing in the room next door instead of her room last night. I meant that _I_ think that we need rules. You brought it up."

"I did? I don't remember…" She trailed off, somehow looking even more confused than she did before.

"Well, you brought up home. And I was thinking, during your ramble, that when we're home, that's when things fall apart. So we should set some relationship rules down to avoid past issues." He paced as he explained, sure that she was going to scoff at the suggestion.

"That might be a good idea. I mean, if we screw it up this time there might not be a next time, there might be too much damage. And after all, third time's a charm, right?" She fidgeted, dropping down on the end of the mattress.

"Really?" His voice lifted in shock before he calmed it back down to it's normal tone. "And I think this would the fourth time. At least."

"No, it's the third. I'm not really counting when we got back together last year. It was too short. And ended too badly." She explained, still fidgeting.

"Okay, I'll agree to that. So, these rules… I think that we should lay specific rules to help, mostly, with what seems to be our biggest issue." Logan sat next to her, watched her fidget a moment more before laying a calming hand over hers.

"And what, pray tell, would be our biggest issue, according to you." She looked up into his eyes now, they were clouded with insecurity. She was worried that he was going blame her. That their biggest issue was her fault.

"Communication. Neither of us says what we really mean, and I think that's what get things so messed up." Her shoulders were still tense, but so were his. It wasn't easy pointing out the faults in a relationship that you were trying to revive again. One that had failed before.

"Okay. So the rule is that we communicate?" She looked down, biting her lip. He could already see her mind working, finding the loop holes, the impossibility of it.

"No I'm saying that rule number one is that when we're mad, we share. We don't just get pissed and expect the other one to figure it out. When we're hurt we tell why. We don't just break up or scream at each other and then brush it under the rug. Full disclosure. Rule number one is full disclosure."

"So we have to tell the truth about everything all the time? That's going to get messy." She was doubting this already, and to be honest, he was a little too.

"Okay, maybe we just don't lie. If you're working a case that I think is dangerous you don't say you're fine. You tell me what's what and I tell you I'm worried and we come to an understanding. I say rule number one and you tell me what's going on, point blank. And same goes if you plead rule one. We don't lie. Rule number one is full disclosure, no lies." He let out a breath, sucked in another and held it, waiting for her response.

"Okay, that sounds reasonable. But rule number two is space. I'm going to need space at some point, to figure something out or to stop myself from saying something that we both know we'll both regret. You have to admit that you and I have a tendency to go for the low blows. It's how we do things, cutting the other person off at the knees. So if we're fighting and I say rule two, or you do, then we take a step back and cool off. We'll talk when we've calmed down."

"Okay, that sounds okay. It's probably better than battling it all out and breaking up, but with one condition. If I call, while we're taking a time out or space or whatever, you answer. Even if it's just to say that you're not ready yet, you answer." He squeezes her hand once before he jumps back up to his feet, needing the movement.

"I'll agree to that."

"Okay, rule number three. If you're in trouble or scared or in some kind of situation that could be classified as dangerous in any way, you call me. No matter what. I won't yell at you or freak out about it, I'll just get there." He paced. This was probably the rule that made him the most nervous, his perceived interference in her sleuthing.

"Okay, third rule is the danger call. I'm in any kind of situation I can't handle I call you. Maybe you come on some of the more risky stakeouts. Honestly it'll probably save us a fight later on, right?" She looked at him quickly, glancing away again just as quickly. It was a sign, she was relinquishing this stand she'd always taken. She would allow him to protect her, let him in on the more dangerous aspects in order to make him feel better. Letting him feel like she was safe. She understood that now. It had taken her a long time, years, but somehow she understood that now.

"Rule number four, ease up on the drinking and partying. It worries me. One day I'm going to get a call that you're in the hospital. And you have to admit, it'd probably be in your best interest, some of the major issues have happened because of alcohol." She was looking at him, displaying that balls to the wall confidence he loved so much. Her eyes challenging him to deny the facts, but he saw her restless fingers, showing how nervous she really was.

"Number five, Saturday is date night. Even if we stay in and get dinner and study, we spend Saturday night together, without fail." He didn't miss the quick smile before she spoke.

"Even if we spend it at a stakeout in my car with Chinese food?"

"Even if we spend it in a jail cell, as long as we're together." He smiled, rolling his eyes.

"Speaking of jail, I propose that number six is that we _both_ try to avoid doing and time behind bars." She smirked at him. "Even if it means you beating a cop car up to get there."

"I didn't know you knew about that." He looked away, his stomach tightening at the thought of the reason he'd purposely landed himself in jail last year.

"Of course I did. Sacks called to let me know where you were." Her head tilted a bit, a smile touched at the edge of her mouth. "Then I called Dick to go get you, threatened him within an inch of his life that he couldn't mention to you how he knew you were there. I figured if you wanted me to know you would have called."

"Should have known. Dick must have taken his time getting there, because I had a lot of time in that cell before he picked me up." He paced, walked the length of the room twice before sitting down next to her again. "Are we done then?"

"Okay, we have six rules. Full disclosure, space, danger call, party down, date night and jail free. I think that should be all." Veronica let out a long breath, the tension in her shoulders easing.

Logan felt his tension release as well, breathing deeply in and out, he shrugged. "For now. I think that we should keep things open for new rules. After all, there might be an issue later that will need it's own rule. Okay?"

"Okay. I think this was good. Now we should get going before it gets too late." She sighed again and stood up, walking towards her breakfast tray.

"Great, lets pack." Logan clapped his hands together loudly, rubbing them together as he stood and went to retrieve his own suitcase from the pile of bags on the floor. "Neither of us are light packers are we?"

"Full disclosure?" She turned, smirking at him.

"Of course." He chuckled, it didn't take her long, did it?

"I pack our bags, you get your laptop and find us a hotel, book a room. Then you can get the road snacks." She walked over and removed her suitcase from the desk. She retrieved her laptop from it's own bag and handed it to him.

"Okay, I can do that." He settled in at her desk, opening the laptop and waiting for it to boot up.

"I'm just saying, I've seen the way you pack a bag. It's not pretty." She popped a strawberry in her mouth as she started to transfer her clothes from a drawer into her suitcase.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry it's been so long everyone. My computer died, literally, died (something about a blown graphics chip on the motherboard, it's been such a beast that I really don't care at this point). So I'm on a borrowed computer at the moment. The bad news for this story was that while I have all previous chapter of this story (and all my other stories) that have been posted were saved to an external hard drive, I kept the outline and unposted chapters on the computer itself. That means that 4 written chapters that I had yet to post just disappeared with the death of my laptop (it's name was Steven, and he was a bastard). So I had to start all over with the chapters with no point of reference on how I originally wanted them to be. On a lighter note, I think that these new chapters are pretty damn okay. It's been a while since I've written this story (I've been working on writing my own original novel lately) but I hope I'm still in voice. I've worked out a new outline.


	31. 28 Wallace

**Title:** The Return 28-Wallace [The Run]  
**Rating:** PG  
**Word Count:** 2,143  
**Characters/Pairings:** Wallace, Parker, OFC  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes. Specific references to episode 1.16 though, if you want to brush up.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**28**

**Wallace**

**~The Run~**

Wallace was up earlier than everyone else. Well, almost. Parker was already up, cleaning the various debris around the living room. She'd caught him before he'd snuck out the front door, marching him into the kitchen and forcing a bottle of water on him.

"It'll help your hangover." She'd insisted, pulling a blue plastic sports bottle from the cupboard and filling it with tap water.

"No ice?" He asked, reaching out for the bottle.

"No, room temp is better on the stomach." Even while she was talking she started cleaning up different things around the kitchen. Putting a baggie of cheesy curls in the cupboard, throwing several empty plastic water bottles into the recycling bin, wiping orange fingerprints off the steel refrigerator door and counter tops.

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you later." He said turning to the sliding glass door on the opposite side of the kitchen, pushing his black wraparound sport sunglasses over his eyes.

"Where are you going? Don't you want any breakfast?" She asked, scrubbing at a stubborn spot on the counter.

"For a run, hands down the best cure for a hangover. I'll eat when I get back. I shouldn't be gone long." He slid the door open and slipped out before she could force a meal on him. She had, for some reason, made it her priority to make sure everyone was fed in the morning.

He took a few swallows of water, it settled his stomach the way ice water never would have. _Damn girls know everything, _he thought as he tucked the bottle into the pocket of his hoodie, walking around toward the front of the house.

His head pounded. The light, though muted through his sunglasses, made his eyes hurt, causing him to squint. His stomach, calmed a bit by the water, still churned viciously, threatening to heave. Still, as he reached the front, he because to pick up speed.

In moments he'd be speed-walking, pushing himself more until it was a light jog. There'd be more effort, urging his body into a run. Afterwards his legs would burn and his breath would come in harsh pants, but his headache would recede and his stomach would behave. His body would focus on different things than expelling the evil alcohol that he had, apparently, insisted on poisoning it with.

* * *

He was twenty minutes and two miles into his run when he saw her. A petite blonde kneeling at the side of the road, tying her shoe. _Veronica?_ She didn't run, but also didn't drink and have loud sex in a house full of people either. Vacation Veronica was a new and strange creature.

"Veronica?" He called out.

The girl turned her face to him, eyebrows raised inquisitively. It wasn't Veronica, didn't even really look like her really. _Like V is the only tiny blonde in the world._

"Sorry," She stood and faced him completely. She was taller than Veronica, not much, but it was noticeable. Her eyes were brown and her face rounder than Veronica's. She was beautiful, dressed in slouchy blue runners pants and a matching sweatshirt. "Not, what was it, Veronica?"

"No, I thought…" he reached back and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm Wallace."

"Hi Wallace."

"And what, if I may, is your non-Veronica name?" He extended a hand to the girl.

"Sorry, so rude. I'm Tamsin." She shook his hand, smiling and tilting her head to the side. "We actually met last night."

"We did?" He swallowed, trying to think if he'd gotten her number and if you could figure out which one it was. She looked like a girl who wrote in big bubbly letters. Not the kind that put a heart over the 'I' but the bubbly kind that looked so soft and feminine that you couldn't help but admire it.

"Yeah, you and your friends were collecting phone numbers." She shifted form foot to foot, shielding her eyes with her hand.

"Oh, yeah…" he trailed off in embarrassment. _How many knew?_ he wondered.

"Who won? You or the guy with the floppy hair." She smiled at him, digging her sunglasses out of the pocket of her sweatshirt.

"He did, actually." Wallace looked down, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, neither of us would usually do something like that, it's just that-"

"It's fine, you didn't get my number, and neither did he." She interrupted, beginning to walk slowly. He took the cue to walk with her when she tilted her head and kept talking. "I was a little disappointed, though. I would've given you my number otherwise."

"Like I said, we don't normally bet like that. We were out with friends, and being stupid. Usually we're pretty decent guys." He explained, picking up speed as she did.

"Pretty decent guys don't usually take bets on how many phone numbers they can get." She pointed out. "But you were out with a bunch of people, and it didn't seem mean spirited, so you can take a pass this time."

"Did everyone there know?" They were jogging now, but not pushing into a run like he usually would.

"No, just me. I happened to have walked past your table as the bet was being made." She smiled at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the road in front of her.

"Well then…" He trailed off, at a loss.

The jogged together in a companionable silence. It was a little strange, the only other person he could enjoy being with without the constant need for chatter was Veronica. They were comfortable enough not to have to talk constantly the way Piz did. Or Dick. Or Logan. Or Parker. Mac didn't really talk overly much, but they didn't hang out one on one very often and the silence was usually filled by someone else. And Weevil, well he didn't talk all that much, period, but the only person he really ever hung out with was Veronica and, back before he knew them, Lilly.

"So, the little blonde girl. The tiny one that you were hanging out with last night, at least before you guys made that bet. How do you know her?" Tamsin asked, her voice hesitant but curious.

"That is actually Veronica. She's my best friend, I've known her for years. She was my first friend when I moved to Neptune." He explained, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh. Really? I thought her name was Betty, she looks just like this girl I met in high school." Surprised, Tamsin slowed her pace down a bit, causing him to jog past her. He pulled up short and waited for her to catch up before matching his pace to hers again.

"Really? That's weird, Veronica and Betty look-a-likes?" His brow furrowed, this struck a memory. Something about a goat.

"Yeah, my sophomore year this girl transferred in, Betty. She was a junior, but she hung out with our group and Richie really liked her. She was only there for a few days, I think her parents sent her to boarding school or something." Tamsin explained, picking up speed again.

"No, she didn't go to boarding school. She went to Neptune High, she was just pretending to go to Pan to find out who took our mascot."

"That's right, then Billy disappeared and someone said something about Betty showing up at the game with a parrot, Billy and talking to the Neptune principal." They were jogging into town now. There wasn't much going on this morning, but most people were probably either at church or still in bed. "You want to take a break? I see a bench." She pointed toward the iron and wood bench a little further down the street.

"Sure, I could rest." They slowed and walked to the bench, collapsing when the finally reached it. It was three miles into town from the house, and checking his watch. He'd been gone about 40 minutes, that last mile taking longer than he normally would.

"So you're all from Neptune?" She was sprawled across the opposite end of the bench, completely comfortable.

"Yeah, we all went to high school together. Well, most of us. Lilly and I didn't go to high school together seeing as… I met Parker and Piz last year at college. Piz is my roommate and Parker was my friend Mac's. Is. She _is_ Mac's roommate, at least for a little while longer." He explained. "It's all very complicated."

"Complicated? You guys are all, what, 19? 20? How complicated can it be?" She raised her eyebrows, disbelief coloring both her words and her face.

* * *

"You're right, it is all very complicated. I mean, you need flow charts, and graphs and a Venn diagram to keep it all straight. I mean, none of it's really normal high school to college stuff is it?" He and Tamsin were walking back now, no longer interested in jogging.

"Well, that's Neptune for you." He shrugged it off, used to the shock that this stuff sometimes got.

"Nope, uh-uh. You don't get to use that excuse. I get that a lot of Neptune is run by the rich and that you probably see that running rampant at NHS, but I'm from Neptune too. Things weren't like that at Pan." She laughed, pushing at his shoulder.

"Okay, so maybe that's the Neptune I live in for you." He conceded. "So do you go to Hearst too? Or the less scandalous version of Hearst that I'm, obviously, not privy to?"

"Nope. At least not yet, anyway. I'm currently at UCLA, but I'm transferring to Hearst next semester."

"Transferring? Why is that?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, smiling. "Don't like the big city?"

"Not really. I mean, Neptune isn't exactly Podunk, but it's smaller. And UCLA is super expensive and Hearst has a great photography and journalism department, too. And I'm going to be staying in the apartment over my parents garage next semester, which isn't exactly ideal, but it's cheaper than my dorm at this point." She rambled on, her reasons coming out quickly. "I like the friends I've made there, but my roommate is an idiot and while I like my classes and the school in general, I just feel like I get lost in the shuffle of all the other students. Hearst is a much smaller school, more intimate in the sense that the professors actually get to know the students and stuff."

"Okay, you don't have to sell me on it. I already go there." Wallace laughed as she jokingly too a deep breath.

"I actually wanted to go to Hearst to begin with, my parents are the ones that insisted I go to UCLA. I'll be happier back in the hometown." She glanced at him, smiling flirtatiously. "For more reasons than the smaller classes and cheaper tuition."

Wallace grinned, understanding where this was going. He hadn't really flirted with anyone in a while, dated someone. All last year was spent in a mash up of basketball and engineering classes that nearly killed him. The drama that had been both the beginning of the year with the serial rapist and the end of the year with the Logan and Piz drama.

"Getting away from your idiot roommate?" He asked, expecting the shove. She didn't disappoint, giving him a hard shove to his upper arm that nearly knocked him off balance.

"No, you jerk." She laughed as he made a show of rubbing his arm and scowling at her.

"So if I ask for your number this time, will you give it to me?" He's sincere when he asks, looking at her earnestly.

"Can you remember it?" She has stopped completely, since they're standing outside the lane for the house that she's staying at. Her aunt's house, she's heading back to the city in a couple hours because, unlike him, she doesn't have a best friend that can fake death certificates and doctor's notes.

"What do you mean?" He's confused now, brow furrowed.

"I don't normally bring pen and paper when I go for a run, do you?" She's grinning as she starts to slowly back up the lane. "If I tell you, will you remember it?"

"Yeah, give it to me." Wallace squared himself, ready for the numbers. Tamsin starting laughing.

"You look like you're getting ready to take a punch." She laughed out, her hand gripping her side.

"Yeah, okay. Now tell me your number. Slowly, and then repeat it once." He didn't change his posture, but focused on her. "I'll get to the house and call you."

"Okay, here it is: 619-826-7467." She paused, waited a beat before repeating it. "619-826-7467."

Wallace turned and ran, full force, the last mile to the house. Leaving Tamsin laughing hysterically behind him.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, this is just a fun one with Wallace. There's a bit of info in it, but it was mostly a Wallace puff piece. Giving him a little one-on-one story. Also, the phone number later on, the area code is California but the rest of it is nonsense (actually bonus points to anyone that can figure out what it means/says)

**A/N: **I've got the next chapter and half the one after that written out (by hand), so you'll just have to wait until it's typed, then I have the next 6 chapters pretty well plotted/lined out (just adding dialog and such). They might not get put up until after Christmas, but I've got a renewed muse for this story, and I'm hoping it'll stick around to finish it. I've got the rest of the chapters pretty planned out though, so it should be okay


	32. 29 Mac

**Title:** The Return 29-Mac [The Talk]

**Rating:** PG-13 (Just in case, but there's really only some talk of sex)

**Word Count:** 3,859

**Characters/Pairings:** Mac, Dick, Veronica, _(mentions of: Bronson, Max, references to Cassidy/Beaver) Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**29**

**Mac**

**~The Talk~**

Dick rolled over, his hand sliding over her bare stomach. The sensation made her shiver a little, waking her.

Mac turned her head slightly to look into Dick's sleeping face. He looked peaceful, completely at ease after having slept with his girlfriend for the first time. _Slept. Ha, had _sex _with his girlfriend for the first time_. They'd shared a bed a bunch of times before this. He didn't look like he was freaking out. Not like her, who was barely restraining herself from jumping out of bed and running.

She'd had sex before. Bronson was first, but they'd broken up rather suddenly when she met Max. She'd slept with Max, and had thought that she might actually really like him. Not love, she had known she didn't love him. It was either too early in the relationship or he wasn't the one. Whatever the reason, they hadn't worked out and she'd ended up spending more and more time with Dick. Dick who'd be such a, well, dick throughout high school and most of that first year of college. Dick who'd sprung a kiss on her at the end of last year that she hadn't been able to stop thinking about.

Of course, it wasn't the fact that she'd slept with Dick Casablancas that was the problem. After all, this had been coming on for weeks. For months, really. Since he stopped her on the beach and apologized before planting one on her. At first she'd thought it was a fluke, that they could figure out a way to be friends. Then she realized, they were never going to be 'just friends' the way that Veronica and Logan were never able to pull off the 'just friends' routine. Of course she didn't foresee the fact that she would fall in love with him, or that he'd fall in love with her.

_Did Dick tell me he loved me lost night?_ the thought made Mac jolt in surprise. _During sex?_

She slid closer to the edge of the bed, away from her boyfriend. His arm, casually slung over her body in his sleep, slid until his hand rested on the flat of her stomach. She stared at it there for a moment before slipping off the bed completely. It fell, limp, to the mattress. His finger contracted once. Twice. He rolled over, letting the blankets slide lower, perilously lower, until they threatened to reveal him in all his glory. In the harsh light of morning, the thought of seeing all of him made Mac blush bright red as she rushed into the bathroom.

She'd seen Dick naked. She had sex with a naked Dick. The thought made her giggle a little madly. Never, not once, had she imagined ending up here in all four years of high school, watching him walk around school like he owned the place. Now it was two years post high school and while she couldn't really retrace the steps it took to get here, she wasn't shocked. Well, maybe a little.

She slipped into the shower. A little rushing water would clear the cobwebs, make the confusion go away and clarify all the stuff that seemed so jumbled this morning, after something that had seemed so clear and simple the night before. After all, what was so confusing about it? They'd been seeing each other pretty much all last summer, secretly official since the beginning of the school year. They were out in the open now, everyone knew about them and it wasn't a big deal. It seemed like a natural progression to take it to the next step, to have sex. Instead of the relaxed and happy feeling she'd expected she felt a little raw and exposed, like she was in a little deeper than she'd intended to be.

_I love him though_, Mac thought as she grabbed the shampoo. Squirting a little into her hand, she set the bottle down and went to work on her hair. It kind of wasn't that big of a deal, being deep in a relationship with a guy you were in love with. She knew that Dick would never hurt her, he wouldn't hit her for any reason. He was in college and, while she knew he skipped class and joked around a lot, he got his assignments in on time and wasn't doing all that badly this year. He was smart and well off and would take care of her if she let him. He cared for her. In fact, he'd even told her he loved her. Granted it was during sex, but did that matter? Of course it did, but he cared for her even if he wasn't in love with her yet. Yet. Because he eventually would be. There was no other way this could go, no other option but for them to be in love.

She was just finishing the final rinse after conditioning her hair when he slipped in. He'd been quiet when he'd opened the bathroom door, she hadn't noticed she wasn't alone until the shower door opened and he was suddenly there. In front of her. Naked. In the shower with her. The confusion rushed back. She was in a relationship, a _sexual _relationship, with Dick Casablancas. And he was in the shower with her. She jumped under the shower spray and then back out, instantly regretting it as his eyes followed the movement on her chest.

"I'm done. Just finished, so the shower is all yours." When had her voice become the squeaky and panicked? She still had to press up against him to get out of the shower, to squeeze past him out into the cold bathroom. He leaned out to press a rather intense and seductive kiss to her mouth, his tongue snaking in. Mac leaned into him, her knees a little weaker as she starts to let herself just feel and her brain start to turn off. The feel of Dick's hand on the small of her back, tugging her towards the still open shower door snaps her out of the seduction. The kiss breaks off with a loud smack and she pushes away from him, using her hands against his chest as leverage. The look of hurt and confusion on his face make her stomach drop out and onto the floor. He nods though. One curt and perfunctory nod, like he completely understands, before he closes the shower door and goes about his own business.

She's cut out. Left out, alone, in the cold bathroom, dripping onto the icy tile. She grabs a towel for her hair and wraps another around her body and darts from the room. She lets out a sigh as she walks through the door from the cold bathroom to the cozy bedroom she's been sharing with Dick the entire trip. Their stuff is strewn around the room. His jeans in a pile on the floor next to the bed. Her clothes from last night flung casually over the arm chair by the window.

Mac dresses quickly, unwilling to still be naked when Dick is out of the shower and in the room. She doesn't know how she'd be able to dress in front of him feeling as awkward and ridiculous as she does right now. She has her blow dryer out and running when he strolls into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist, using another to rub his own hair dry. She averts her eyes for a moment when he whips his towel off before she makes up her mind and refocuses on his reflection in the mirror she's using. She isn't sure if he's aware, or if he can see, that she's watching him, but after seeing that look of hurt on his face she doesn't want him to think that she's going to be one of those girls that avoids him after they sleep together.

When her hair is finally dry and there's no excuse to speak to him any longer she sets the dryer down and slowly turns to him. "I'm going to go downstairs. For breakfast."

"Okay." His voice is soft, and she hears the understanding in it even though she's not even quite sure what's going on herself.

"I'll see you in a bit?" She phrases it as a question, but her voice has lost that squeaky and nervous quality and softened into something more normal. Something more typical of a morning after scene. He nods, smiles a little, as he watches her slip out the door.

She'd down the first flight of stairs, still berating herself over her awkward behavior, when she notices the door at the foot of the stairs is open a little. Veronica and Logan were obviously up already, which she has to admit she's a little surprised about considering the amount of alcohol they consumed the night before.

Not quite sure why, or even what she was going to say she pokes her head inside. She nearly trips over a pile of neatly folded clothing, a mix of both Logan and Veronica's clothes from the night before, but she continues into the room when she sees that her best friend is alone in the room.

"You know there's a pile of clothes outside your door, right?" Mac asks as she walks into the room. Veronica is standing in the middle of the room wearing jeans and an old hoodie from high school, staring off into space. The sound of Mac's voice seems to wrench her from whatever thoughts she was having and into the present. She turns, and by the time she's facing Mac she has a smile on, as well as a rather vibrant blush.

"Really? I've been wondering…" She trails off as she starts to head towards the door. She's half way there before she stopped by Mac's voice.

"Can we talk?"

"Uh-oh. Are we breaking up?" Her voice holds that trademark Veronica-sarcasm, but Mac can hear the underlying concern.

"So, last night…" Mac hedges, not quite sure how she wants to start this. She and Veronica had never really been this kind of girlfriends. They'd never really talked about boys and sex before, at least not the way Mac was about to dive into the subject.

"Yeah…" Veronica's own voice is hesitant, giving Mac an out. She could bring up her friends' drunken behavior of the night before, make a joke and let this horrible impending conversation be over before it even starts. Of course that route helps nothing except her own imminent embarrassment.

"You did a little drinking." She hasn't completely escaped her own conversation, just delayed a little.

"Oh, god." Veronica's blush heightens, seeming to spread down her neck.

"Yeah, I've decided you're not allowed to do that again. I'm banning you." Mac moves into the room more, aiming for the bed before detouring to the arm chair near the window.

"Did it get out of hand?" Veronica, taking Mac's cue, heads toward the second arm chair by the window.

"I would say so, and that's just the stuff in the car."

"Stuff in the car? When Logan and I were making out in the backseat? Tell me, that was the worst, right?"

"Well, lets just say that you and Logan weren't quiet about your love last night." Mac looks away at this, sincerely wishing she could spare her friend the embarrassment of this, spare her from this and the topic she was about to bring up. There wasn't much that Veronica wouldn't do for her, she knew that. Veronica broke all kinds of laws when it came to protecting those she loved, but her lawbreaking and evading skills wouldn't be any of use now. Now all she needed was some advice. Too bad it wasn't a felony, because Veronica was real good at those.

"So Dick and I had sex last night." She made it a statement, put it out there are boldfaced and honest.

"Yeah? I know, as a proper girlfriend I should ask how it was, but…" Veronica trailed off, looking just a little uncomfortable, to her credit. This couldn't be easy for her, even though she and Dick had been getting along he still wasn't her favorite person.

"I was okay. I mean, all his whoring around has paid off I supposed." Mac tried to make her voice casual, but she heard it crack nervously once over the words.

"Okay. What's wrong?" All of her friends' awkwardness disappeared and there was just her concerned best friend, her eyebrows scrunched together in a worried line.

"I don't know. I like him, maybe more, and I've done this before so it's not like it's virgin issues. I've done this _this_ year, I've done this with three guys this year. NI think I might be a slut. And that isn't even the part that bothers me, what bothers me is… well, I don't know., Maybe I like him too much. He likes me too much, I know that." It comes rushing out until she has to break for breath.

"How? What do you mean?"

"He told me… he said 'I love you' last night, while, well during… you know." Mac looks away, unable to see the shock in Veronica's eyes that Dick Casablancas could be in love with her.

"First of all, if you're having sex you should be able to call it that. Second, if he said it while you were having sex then there's a good chance he isn't really there yet, so you have some time. It only counts if he says it _out of bed_. And you're fully clothed." Veronica leans forward to lay a hand over Mac's hand, the touch lending some comfort.

"Okay, we had sex. I'm a slut. And he says 'I love you' randomly during sex. We've already got major issues. How many girls has he told he loves them? What if I'm not a relationship girl? I mean, I've certainly proven that I'm not very good at them, haven't I?" Mac stands up to pace nervously a couple times in front of the small sitting area before sitting back down.

"Does this have to do with Max? Bronson? Or is it about something else? Some_one_ else?" Veronica asked, shifting a little in her chair and looking more uncomfortable about the direction of this conversation and the subject of the boy they never brought up coming up.

"I guess, I haven't really… since… and it worries me." She couldn't seem to get anything intelligible out about it. About _him_.

"Don't. Don't let it ruin your relationship now. Let that go and focus on the now. Bringing the past, especially _that_ past, into it will only wreck it. And I should know, so learn from my mistakes and let me impart this bit of wisdom to you." Veronica eased back in her chair, relaxing a little. The subject of this particular boy was never easy for her, for any of them really, but his name hadn't been mentioned and until it was they could pretend that they weren't talking about _him_. Weren't talking about the nightmare he made of their graduation night.

"Impart?" Mac asked, raising a questioning brow over her friend's word usage.

"Shut up. The only place the past belongs is in the past and cautionary tales." Veronica stood and walked into the bathroom, coming out with a glass of water.

"So we're cautionary tales?" Mac asked, curling her feet up under her on her chair as Veronica settled back down next to her.

"We are our own cautionary tales." Veronica offered the glass, now half empty, to Mac. She reached out and took it from her friend, staring at the contents before taking a sip.

"Well, that sounds fun. What exactly is mine? What am I cautioning against?" She set the glass on the small table that sat between them.

"Don't let one bad relationship in the past ruin this one. And don't let stupid things that he did in the past matter too much. That only leads to badness." Veronica explained.

"So that's it? Veronica's new and improved rules to dating?"

"Yeah, rules for dating. New and improved, even though I can't seem to remember exactly what the old rules were." Veronica took another drink and replaced the glass on the table. They both watched for a moment as condensation built up and ran down the side of the glass.

"Maybe we should think about boyfriend rules for when we get that apartment next semester. I mean I've already experienced the whole scrunchie on the door knob thing and I didn't particularly enjoy it." Mac suggested.

"Okay, but we've got a couple of months before we even move into an apartment." Veronica shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up underneath her as well.

"Are you saying that we might not need rules by then?" Mac lifted her eyebrows in a kind of questioning shock.

"No, I'm saying it'll wait and we have months before it'd even be an issue. And I think this particular issue might be better served by coming up with specific rules at the time instead of generic ones months ahead." Veronica explained.

"Okay. So, are you coming down to breakfast? Or are you going to stay up here and avoid everyone?" Mac questioned, getting out of her chair to stand over Veronica. She looked down on her friend and watched as Veronica's face scrunched up in a little in confusion.

"Why everyone? I was just going to avoid you." Veronica pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, worrying it as she looked up at her. "Mac, why would I avoid everyone? What happened?"

"Nothing. Why? What do you remember?" Mac asked hurriedly, starting towards the door and out of this conversation. Veronica was starting to sound worried, and the blush that had begun was a telltale sign of her embarrassment over what she was now assuming was very bad drunk behavior.

"We got a little carried away in the car. And apparently on the stairs. Then Logan and I came in here and… well…" Veronica trailed off.

"If you're having sex you should be able to call it sex." Mac barely contained her laughter as she repeated Veronica's words to her.

"Okay, we came in here and had sex." Veronica relented.

"I know." She couldn't hide the laughter this time.

"Well I hardly expect it to be a mystery after that ride home." Veronica crossed her arms in front of her, looking slightly petulant.

"Well, that and we could hear you all over the house." Mac informed her, sufficiently ripping of the band aid.

"What? Oh my god." Veronica launched herself out of her chair, no longer looking the least bit petulant.

"It's fine, seriously, not a big deal. Everyone was drunk, they probably don't even remember." Mac told, trying to sooth the rather panicked look on Veronica's face.

"Oh thank god we're leaving already." Veronica rushed to the closet door and flung it open, looking for something for a moment before turning back to face Mac.

"What? I thought we were all staying until tomorrow morning?" Mac asked, taking one step toward her friend.

"Everyone else is. Logan and I had decided to leave today. Alone time, we're going to get a hotel room for tonight and tomorrow night and then head home Tuesday morning for our afternoon classes." Veronica explained, fidgeting.

"Well, if you and Logan are going, maybe we should all head out." Mac took a step backwards toward the door as her stomach rumbled. She needed to go down for breakfast soon.

"No, stay. You don't have to leave just because we do. Stay and have fun." Veronica insisted.

"No, believe it or not, you and Logan are the connecting factor for everyone here." Mac answered, she was now standing in the open door way of Veronica's bedroom.

"Not true, you're all friends with everyone here. You and Parker are roommates and friends, you're friends with Wallace and Piz." Veronica seemed to plead guiltily with her, not wanting to break up the vacation they had all been planning. "You and Lilly get along, so do you and Duncan."

"Yeah, but you and Logan hold it together. And either way, it's getting a little too crowded here. I think that we could all stand to go back a little early." It was getting too crowded, even though they hadn't picked up any extra people, the people that were there seemed to expand and take up more room. Cause more drama. Between Logan and Veronica getting back together, her and Dick coming out of the relationship closet, the seemingly on-going battle between Lilly and Weevil they all seemed to triple in size. Like their emotional issues had manifested and become living things in the house. And that wasn't even going into all the 'fab four' drama that had cropped up.

"Well, if you all want to go, then maybe we should go down and decide who's riding with who. Lilly can come with us and we'll just go home early, that way-"

"No, we'll figure it out." Mac cut her friend off. "You guys go on your hotel getaway thing."

It doesn't take much to convince Veronica, and she agrees to the arrangement rather quickly. Either because she really wants to get away with her boyfriend or, now, because she wants to avoid everyone that was audience to her and Logan's activities the night before. There's another brush with embarrassment as Veronica heads to the door and grabs the pile of clothes sitting just outside it. She throws the clothes into the room, in the general direction of the bed, before turning back to Mac.

"See you when you get home Tuesday." Mac tells her as she leans in closer and, standing in the hallway, they hug.

"Yeah, I'll meet you in our Lit class." Veronica agrees as she pulls away. They stand there for another moment before they both turn away. Veronica goes back into her room and shuts the door slightly behind her. Mac turns and heads down the stairs toward the kitchen, and breakfast.

She's halfway down the stairs when she passes Logan. He's carrying a tray with a bowl of oatmeal, strawberries, sausage and juice. Just enough for Veronica, so she wouldn't have to come downstairs and face everyone, even though Logan had to do just that. He averts his eyes and blushes a little, probably embarrassed himself after learning of their rather public exploits from whoever was in the kitchen. Probably Parker from the looks of that breakfast.

When she enters the kitchen Duncan is packing up the baby and trying, in vain, to clean up the mess of splattered oatmeal and smushed strawberries while at the same time hold her wiggling body. Parker is at the sink, washing up the pans and dishes from breakfast. Dick is sitting quietly at the table, opposite from where Duncan and baby were, eating.

"Morning." Mac calls as she moves to the counter and picks up a bowl to start dishing herself up some breakfast.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, here it is, the next chapter. I've got several other chapters _written_ I just have to get them typed out now, it's just finding the time to do it. Remember, feedback is love and I love to know what you guys think.


	33. 30 Parker

**Title:** The Return 30-Parker [The Breakfast]  
**Rating:** PG  
**Word Count:** 5,859  
**Characters/Pairings:** Parker, Wallace, Duncan, Lilly the Second, Logan, Dick Mac _(mentions of: Weevil, Veronica, Lilly the first, Piz) Mac/Dick_  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**30**

**Parker**

~The Breakfast~

She's the first one up. She doesn't even have to leave her room to know that. It's quiet in the house, she can hear the quiet echo loudly and harshly in her room. It's the quiet that had settled over the house when everyone had left for the bar last night and the baby had been asleep and she had been standing alone in the foyer. Quiet and eerie with just a hint that she had somehow left reality and entered some bizarre horror movie. The quiet that had settled over her when last night's poker game had ended and everyone had taken themselves off to bed and she lay, completely sober and alone, in her bed and listening to nothing for what seemed like hours before she finally drifted off to sleep. The quiet of a sleeping house, somehow inhaling and exhaling together with the synchronized beauty of sleep.

Parker is the first one awake, a distinction that she has had over the last few days. First to rise, first to bed. She is seemingly the only morning person amidst a house of night owls. It would seem boring to anyone else, even though it doesn't to any of the friends currently residing in the same house, but she likes the fact that she's always the first up. She likes that she has nearly an hour and a half to herself every morning. There are ten full grown people sharing a space that while big enough to accommodate that many was obviously meant for three or four people. It's a large space that still could probably hold another dozen people comfortably and it feels beyond crowded with the ten of them. Eleven if you count the baby, but she's hardly responsible for the emotional tension that seems to somehow expand to the size of a fifty person crowd packing itself into the room whenever there's more than 3 people in it.

Taking her time getting up and ready for the day, Parker reflects on her own friends from high school. Sure there had been drama, no high school is immune to that, but there is absolutely no way that her high school drama could in any way compete with what went on in Neptune High. It's curious that her friends could go through so much at such a young age and still seem normal. Then again, she has had a rather traumatic and life altering year and a half and she may no longer be a sufficient judge on what 'seems' normal any longer. That thought is driven home as she contemplates her shoulder length hair. She's proud of it, of it's length and it's color and it's shine and texture and weight. She's proud of her hair in a way that she never thought that would be necessary and while pulling it into a simple ponytail seems like a waste she does it anyway, to get it off her face and out of her way. It's not like there's really anyone in the house to impress with full make up and hair and a cute outfit.

The beauty of the friendship she's found with everyone here. You're allowed to simply be you and accepted, because everyone else is who they are and they fit into the group however they fit. They fit. She fits. She was popular in high school. Parker Lee was a cheerleader and prom queen and voted the most likely to succeed, and her parents were proud and teacher sang her praises. But she didn't fit. Not really, because being everything for everyone is exhausting and you don't have time to find where you really belong while you're trying so desperately to belong where people say you should. Now though, now there are no longer any pretenses. She's still the most carefree of all her friends but she doesn't have to happy and smiling all the time, it isn't expected and she's grateful for that, but not for the way she found it.

Packing up her things take a little longer than she expected, having unpacked into the room she and Mac were supposed to be sharing more than she realized. It takes twenty minutes to pack her things and move her bags down into the room she'd slept in last night, between Lilly and Logan and Veronica. It almost seemed pointless to move to a different room since they were leaving tomorrow and only had one night left, but the bed was comfier and she wouldn't have to share a bathroom with anyone. It was worth it, even if the room did share a wall with Logan and Veronica's bedroom.

* * *

By 8:30 Parker is dressed and moved and downstairs, staring at the mess left in the media room. She'd been planning on reading a book, the cabin had an excellent selection of non school mandated books and it had been so long since she'd read for the pure pleasure of it. Or there was early morning cartoons, it'd been forever since she curled up on a couch with a bowl of cereal and a remote and watched cartoons.

Her plan had been to curl up and do whatever she wanted in the glorious silence of being alone in a house full of sleeping people for another hour or two. She didn't get any alone time these days, crammed into a dorm room with a roommate, whom she loved, but always seemed to be in the room when she was. She lived with Mac, they all went out as a group, study group, class, meals in the cafeteria. Always the same thing. Out with friends, home with Mac, classes and meals with hundreds, never alone and always together. There's especially no alone time here, with everybody on top of each other and dealing with some issue or another. She'd just wanted to sit and watch some mindless television until her calm morning was interrupted by everyone else.

Parker stops in the doorway of the media room and freezes, staring at the mess that she can't remember making the night before, but she's the only one that can be responsible. Dishes and dvds and blankets and cups and popcorn are scattered everyone. Spoons from bowls of ice cream are sitting on the coffee table, stuck in a puddle of melted and dried mint chocolate chip ice cream. Crushed pieces of popcorn are strewn like confetti on the floor, and visible under the crooked couch cushions. A nearly empty bottle of Sprite lays on it's side, obviously spilled by the sugar ring on the carpet. Crumpled napkins litter nearly every surface. There's empty dishes from the leftovers that she and Duncan had hauled out late last night when they got hungry during Say Anything and hadn't wanted something sugary or buttery. Empty bowls from before that, when they'd tried to watch Pretty In Pink and made sundaes. They'd taken the movie out pretty quickly when she remembered how much she disliked it. Duncan had made comments throughout most of the movies that they'd watched, and while it should have been annoying, she'd gotten a glimpse of what it must have been like hanging out with him and Veronica and Lilly and Logan in high school. The comfort in which they felt in their friendships that allowed them to joke and mock and laugh at movies during the funny parts and the non-funny parts. She and Duncan had laughed a lot and eaten their way through half the kitchen. They'd made a big mess but she'd gotten to hang out with someone that she was genuinely comfortable with, someone that was easily friendly and at ease in friendship in a way that she'd never learned.

"So much for relaxing." Parker grumbles as she begins to pick up all the discarded napkins, along with the bigger chunks of popcorn. There's no trash in the room so she has to take it into the kitchen. She brings a warm wash cloth back with her, cleaning up the mess from the sticky spoons first before she begins stacking dishes, washing beneath them and straightening the knickknacks that belong there. She'll have to get the vacuum out to clean up all the popcorn on the floor and in the couch.

She could just leave it. A cleaning crew would be there on Tuesday, after they were all gone, to clean up the mess and close up the house until Logan makes time to come back again. She could just leave it all. She could even make a bigger mess and not have to worry about it because someone was already going to be there to clean it up… But no, of course not, she couldn't leave a mess. No matter hw much she resented her mother, couldn't stand her really, there was one thing that had been repeatedly drilled into her head that she just couldn't ignore: Never leave a mess behind. So, with a sigh, Parker continued on, walking into the kitchen. She set the first pile of dirty dishes on the counter, the dishwasher was officially busted so she'd have to wash them by hand. It took a little while and a little searching, but she finally located the vacuum in a cupboard of cleaning supplies off of the pantry.

Parker vacuumed the floor and couch, straightened the cushions and scrubbed at the sugar ring made by the dried spill of Sprite on the carpet. She cleaned up the rest of the dishes, setting on the kitchen counter with the others. She cleaned up the media room systematically and later, if she couldn't help it, she'd complain about it to someone when they asked how she had spent her morning alone.

She'd moved onto the dvds, nearly finished with the media room, when she heard someone descending the stairs. Setting the pile of movies down she turned just as Wallace rounded the corner into the room, peeking in as if he was curious who was there. He turned quickly, aimed at the front door in his running clothes.

"Where are you going?" She asked, her voice sounding abnormally loud in the quiet house. The sound was a bit of a shock to her. It seemed as if she'd gone days without hearing anyone, including herself, speak.

"For a run." He answered, turning back towards her as she exited the media room and stood with him in the hallway that stretched from the front door to the kitchen.

She shook her head. He looked ill, most likely hung-over from the night before, and weak. He'd be sick, throwing up, by time he got to the main road and he'd be lucky if he made it back to the house before passing out from dehydration. She wrapped her hand around his wrist and frog marched him back to the kitchen. It didn't occur to her that he wasn't resisting, but she kept her hand firm on his arm until they were through the kitchen door. She released him as she retrieved a blue, plastic water bottle from the cupboard and filled it at the tap before thrusting it at him.

"No ice?" He asked as he reached for it.

"No, room temp is better on the stomach." She replied, already busy with her next project of cleaning up the kitchen. She put the baggie of cheesy curls currency from last night in the cupboard. Empty water bottles that she'd forced on everyone last night in the recycling bin. Grabbing a clean wash cloth and soaking it in warm water from the sink, she wiped down the refrigerator and counters, erasing the orange fingerprints left mostly by her the night before.

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you later." Wallace shoved the water bottle into the front pocket of his hoodie and shoves the black, wraparound sunglasses down over his eyes, already walking to the sliding glass doors on the opposite side of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" She asks before she can stop herself. Somehow she's become the housemother. Babysitting while everyone goes out. Spending the night watching movies and binging on junkfood with the only actual parent of the group. Using her free time to clean up the house even though there's a cleaning crew coming to do just that in a few days. "Don't you want any breakfast?" She can't seem to help herself now, the mothering is uncontrollable.

"For a run, hands down the best cure for a hangover. I'll eat when I get back. I shouldn't be gone long." Wallace replies and is out the door before anything more can be said. Not that she can blame him. She has, for some reason, taken it upon herself to make sure that everyone is fed in the morning. There were jokes. She was being called the 'Breakfast Nazi', but she supposed there were worse things. Although jokes among friends never got old and she'd be hearing this one for the foreseeable future, possibly forever. However long their friendship lasted and however long it took for someone else to assume the breakfast responsibility.

Another half hour later and the kitchen was cleaned and the dishes were done and she stood there, admiring her work with a wry smile. She was hungry and people would be down soon and it was time for her to start breakfast. Time for her to make a mess of the kitchen she'd just spent so much time cleaning up. Plus with the dishwasher out of order she'd have to wash the pans and dishes all over again. Or someone else would. She could make someone else clean up, but they wouldn't. Even though everyone was grown and living on their own, mostly, none of them seemed to be capable of cleaning up after a meal. Especially Duncan and Logan, who had proven that by breaking the one machine that could help.

Parker dug a large pot out of the cupboards and the big container of steal-cut oatmeal. She'd prayed for instant oatmeal as she rummaged through the pantry, listening as her stomach rumbled for food, but all that had turned up is an expensive and time consuming luxury brand that she'd never heard of before this trip. Luxury brand oatmeal. She'd never really understand the rich, no matter how much time she spent with their children. Studying the side of the container she tried to figure out how much she'd have to make for everyone in the house without having to make more. The guys all seemed to eat enough for two or three people, the girls did too for that matter. Little Lilly would probably require one serving to eat and one that she would purposely dump in her fathers lap for the amusement of watching him jump up and down. After deciding on the amount, measuring out and starting it over a medium heat she turned to the fridge. They'd need someone other than oatmeal for breakfast.

She fished out a package of sausage links and counted out two for each person, one for the baby and none for Mac. There was a small package of tofurkey sausage in there as well, and Parker separated two from it without wrinkling her nose. They were a funny color compared with the rest, but Parker tried not to judge her friend's life choices. After all, Parker was sure that Mac had a very good reason for being a vegan.

Parker emptied a bag of brown sugar into a bowl, placing it and a pitcher of milk on the table. The sausages were making a comforting pop and sizzle sound in the pan while she sliced up strawberries when Duncan entered the kitchen, toting his sleepy eyed daughter on his hip.

"Could I talk you into making enough for me and Lilly?" Duncan asked, his voice rough with sleep and disuse.

"Already on it. Breakfast for everybody." Parker replied without looking up from her strawberries. She dumped what was already cut up in another bowl before turning to check on the meat and oatmeal.

"Great. Thanks. Normally I'd give her some cold cereal with some sliced fruit, usually melon, and have the same. I would make pancakes once in a while, usually on the weekends. She's going to be so spoiled after this week. Not that she isn't already pretty spoiled. I never realized how easy it is to spoil a kid." Duncan explained as he settled the baby into her seat and took the one next to her.

"I'm sure she'll adjust back afterwards, you'll get home and be feeding bowls and bowls of Lucky Charms all day long." Parker stirred the oatmeal, looking up at Duncan and giving him a reassuring smile. I must be hard to be such a young single father. For a moment she wondered what happened to Lilly's mother, and was a little shocked that the subject of Lilly's mother had never come up between her and Duncan. Or her and anyone else for that matter.

"Yeah, just another thing she been spoiled about. Something she picked up…" Duncan trailed off, something in his face changing for a moment before continuing, "No, I won't be. I'll be in prison and she'll be with my parents, on the receiving end of a gourmet chef's breakfast every morning. Just like I was. I'll be eating in a cafeteria. I wonder what kind of food they'll have there."

"I don't know, I'd imagine it'd be like a high school cafeteria." Parker assured him. Her high school's lunches weren't the greatest, but they were horrible either.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it won't be like my high school cafeteria." Duncan commented, his brow furrowing. These were probably questions he hadn't really thought of, the day to day life in jail. Prison. The slammer.

"Why is that?" She asked, unable to help herself. The subject of Neptune High was fascinating to her. This mythical place where all but one of her friends had met before she met them. This place of rich and famous kids, drama and scandal and so many tawdry things she hadn't been exposed to in her own high school.

"We had chefs and a vegan menu. Sushi once a week. Our food was amazing, or looked it anyway, I never really had any of it." Duncan explained, getting up and leaning over the counter to see what exactly she was cooking.

"How come?" She placed the lid back over the oatmeal before taking to grease guard off the sausage. She turned them with a fork.

"I had enough Pirate Points to get my food delivered everyday." It was an odd explanation. _Pirate points?_

"Are you sure you didn't go to private school?" She was always confused why all these rich and famous people would send their children to public school. Didn't they usually send them to private schools?

"No, just a rich one."

"Anyway, I think in prison they call it a 'mess hall'." She replaced the grease guard and went back to slicing strawberries.

"I'll have to remember that, any other jailhouse tips?" He was joking, but she could hear the brittleness behind it. Apparently this was something that he needed to joke about, laugh about it now before it became just a little too real and he was there.

"Yeah. Cigarettes are currency on the inside. And you should develop a 'fight face'. I mean, make it look _really_ mean and angry, so they won't mess with you." Parker informed him with the matter-of-fact tone of someone who had watched television shows set inside the big house.

"They?" Duncan raised his eyebrows in question.

"You know, the other inmates. Also, it might be a good idea to get into a fight with a big guy and beat him up. They night not mess with you then." She suggested before continuing on innocently. "Pay him or something to take the fall. I mean, it's not like you're violent." She was unaware of the sensitive subject she just touched on.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that, but that might be an… interesting idea." Duncan's voice was quieter, almost considering.

"What? You get into a lot of fights in high school?" Parker asked jokingly, unable to imagine _Duncan _hitting someone.

"Not a lot, just memorable ones." Duncan informed her.

"Oh, fights with Logan?" She asked, now completely focused on this topic.

"Some."

"Weevil?" Parker asked.

"No."

"Dick?" She supplied another name. She could see even the most patient person losing it with him sometimes. Except Logan. Logan seemed to always have enough patience for Dick.

"There were a couple over the years." Duncan allowed, as if it was usual to fight with ones best friends.

"And now you're all friends?" She asked incredulously, turning to get the plates and bowls down for breakfast.

"Yeah, I guess." Duncan shrugged, like it was no big deal.

"Boys are so weird." Parker shook her head in amazement, the few people she had fought with in high school had remained enemies until graduation, and they hadn't even come to blows.

"I guess so." Duncan agreed, standing to attention as she pulled out the silverware they would need. She handed it all to him and he began setting the table.

"So is there anything else you're dreading in the next year?" Parker asked as she began transferring the cooked sausage to a paper towel lined plate. She set it on the far side of the counter so Duncan could transfer it to the table.

"Yeah, a lot. You know there are no doors on the cells? It really is just bars. How do you change clothes? Or worse, go to the bathroom?" Duncan asked in horror, putting the sliced bowl of strawberries and plate of sausage on the set table.

"I have no idea how to fix that one, but I'm guessing orange isn't your color so the clothes thing is an issue too." Parker joked, scooping the finished oatmeal into a serving bowl and placing it on the counter. She moved the pot and sausage pan into the sink, running warm water into the pot.

"Yeah, I look much better in blue. You think they'll take fashion into consideration and allow me a different outfit?" Duncan, picked up the bowl of oatmeal and grabbed the serving spoon Parker held out and served his daughter before putting it on the table. He continued serving her, tearing the sausage into bite size pieces on her plate. Adding milk and brown sugar to her bowl and topping it off with a couple slices of strawberries.

"I don't think so." Parker replied as she started to get glasses out, and working in tandem with Duncan, they were set out around the table at the top of each place setting. She pulled the pitcher of orange juice out of the fridge and handed it to Duncan. "Maybe you should ask Weevil for some pointers."

"Why?" He stood there, holding the orange juice, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion, as Parker fished a sippy cup out of the cupboard. She stood on her toes and reached for the cup that had been pushed to the back of the shelf. "Need help?"

"No, I got it. You should ask because he was in prison, last?" She stretched a little more and felt her fingertips brush the cup and then again, she tipped it and grabbed as it fell towards her. This kitchen was built for tall people. "Before our freshman year at Hearst?"

"Weevil was in prison?" Duncan asked, amused, as he took the cup from her. "Can't say I'm all that surprised really."

Parker's eyebrows shut up into her bangs, shocked at the statement. It was something she'd heard from Logan a lot last year. Logan always joking about Weevil, calling him 'Paco' all the time and making comments about the fact that he was working class, and so was his family.

"Why? Because he's poor? Or because he's Mexican?" Parker asked, annoyed with Duncan. Somehow it had been different on Logan, like he disliked Weevil for another reason other than his tax bracket and race, even though he sounded just as much a jerk saying it. She hadn't known everyone as long as they knew each other, especially Lilly, Duncan and especially Weevil, but she'd always gotten the impression from Logan and Dick that the rich teens of Neptune looked down on the less than rich and white.

"No, because the last I knew he was the leader of the local biker gang and had committed a multitude of crimes, many of them felonies. I don't care if he's poor or Mexican. Enough of my friends and parents have gone to prison for felonies. And, if I'm not mistaken, most of them were rich and white. I'm kind of offended that you'd ask that." Duncan poured orange juice for Lilly and himself, sitting down in his seat.

"Sorry, I guess it's from hanging out with Logan and Dick and all their 'Paco' and 'Cinderfella' jokes." Parker explained, taking her seat on the other side of Lilly and beginning to serve herself.

"Yeah, well, while those are… not creative at all, they're still very Logan and Dick jokes. But on another note, Weevil makes jokes right back. It's kind of their thing." Duncan explained, the tension easing out of his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Parker apologized, giving Duncan a smile as she passed the bowl of oatmeal to him.

"You know, maybe he'll offer to show me how to make a shiv. Or explain what shiv is." Duncan took the bowl and gave himself a large serving.

"Maybe you should netflix Oz. I hear it's very informative t the prospective jailbird." Parker suggested, the levity picking back up, but she purposely avoided the terms 'inmate' and 'convict'.

"Hmmm… I'll make a note of it, I'm not sure I'll have the time for a whole series. I was thinking of renting that one with Elvis and all the rocking, but if you say Oz is the way to go…" He was full on joking now, the earlier upset forgotten.

"Yep, go with Oz. I think the jailhouse rocking went out in the fifties. But you never know, it might make a comeback." Parker laughed, popping a strawberry into her mouth.

"And the Shawshank Redemption." Duncan supplied, as if remembering another prison movie he'd seen or heard of.

"A shank. You might want to add that to your list of things to know." She was full on laughing now, glad that they were having fun instead of one of those intense conversations everyone else was always having.

"Right. Maybe I should start writing them down." Duncan agreed as he bit into his sausage.

Lilly finished her sausage and pulled her bowl of oatmeal closer to her. She picked off the strawberries and stuck them clumsily in her mouth. She didn't bother with her spoon as she dove into her food. Duncan was trying to get her to use her utensils, but it didn't seem to be sticking.

"She's going to make a massive mess." Parker said warily, wishing she'd sat a little further away from the messy child. She had already showered and dressed, she didn't want to have to do it again so soon.

"Yeah, why do you think I didn't bathe her yet? Preventative measure so I don't have to do it twice and let her dirty up two outfits." Duncan explained, leaning away from his daughter as she slammed her hand into her bowl.

Parker finished her sausage, eyeing the splatters of oatmeal on the table. Another fist pound into her bowl and Lilly had splatter her father's face with oatmeal. She stood to get him a rag, understand that a napkin just wasn't going to be enough.

"Good thing we're the only ones up, huh? Otherwise I think Lilly would be trying to see how many people she could get with her oatmeal." Duncan laughed as he wiped at his face.

"Yeah… Oh, no. Wallace is up, he went for a run though." Parker informed, picking up her dish and moving it a little further away from Duncan and Lilly. "You don't mind… right?" She asked as she watched Lilly pick up her bowl and dump it in Duncan's lap before bursting into giggles. And Parker had to admit, the groan that Duncan let out was quite funny.

"Maybe I should make a little more oatmeal." Parker suggested as she stood and went back to the sink to empty the water out of her pot. She wiped it out and then measured out more oatmeal. She could see Duncan eyeing the plate of sausage. "And some more sausage." She pulled the package of sausage out of the refrigerator and the pan out of the sink.

* * *

"Well, I'm going to take Veronica's breakfast up to her." Logan said, finally loading a tray that he'd pulled from a cupboard with enough food for his girlfriend.

"Wow, breakfast in bed, what a lucky girl." Dick commented, his voice taking on that joking quality that Parker had begun associating with the friendship of Dick and Logan.

"Oh, Dick, if you had let me know I would've brought you a bagel or something. Sadly, the bromance is over and you're on your own now. In fact, I think the only breakfast in bed you'll have is the one that you'll be bringing." Logan replied as he lifted the tray.

"Damn." Dick called, shrugging as he dug into his oatmeal, the bowl literally filled to the brim.

"See you all in Neptune." Logan called out over his shoulder, chuckling, as he made his way towards the stairs.

A few minutes later Mac entered the room, pausing to take in the scene before greeting everyone. "Morning."

She moved across the room to take a seat next to Dick.

"Hey, you rushed out this morning." Dick commented in a non-accusing tone, the look in his eyes concerned but not worried when he turned to look at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I had to talk to Veronica." Mac explained, her voice tender as she singled out her tofurkey sausage and transferred it to her plate.

"Get it all worked out?" Dick asked, picking up the serving bowl of oatmeal and scooping some into Mac's bowl. Parker smiled at the sweetly domestic scene of her friend and her boyfriend together at the table. The conversation confused her, but she didn't care. Mac looked happy and Dick was so sweet with the way he fussed over her.

"Hey, morning." Mac repeated as she turned to Parker.

"Morning. How was your night?" Parker asked, seating herself at the table now.

"Great, thanks for breakfast by the way. I'm starving." Mac told her as she began scooping strawberries onto her oatmeal. Dick stood up and walked into the kitchen proper, coming back with Mac's soy milk.

"Your welcome." Parker plucked a strawberry out of the bowl of whole berries behind her on the counter.

They sat there, the five of them, chatting a bit before Duncan stood with his and Lilly's dishes, carrying them into the kitchen. He rinsed the dishes and placed them in the sink before getting a wash cloth and getting it wet with warm water.

"Okay, so Veronica and I were talking and since she and Logan are leaving today I thought that maybe the rest of us should follow. I mean, things have gotten kind of heavy and we could all use a little vacation from this vacation." Mac announced, leaning in to take a bite of oatmeal and strawberry.

"That sounds okay. I should get home, I really don't want to miss any classes, even if Veronica got me excused. It still makes me kind of nervous." Parker agrees quickly, feeling the heavy tension that Mac was talking about.

"Really? You're all going to leave early?" Duncan asks, completely shocked and disappointed at the news, Lilly balanced on his hip as oatmeal seemed to drip from her hair.

"Yeah, I think it's time we all get home and take a little break before we kill each other…" Mac explains, looking up sympathetically at Duncan and understanding that he'll be alone here.

"It's not that bad… is it?" Duncan asks, leaning back against the counter.

"No, not yet, but Logan and Veronica are leaving today and as weird as it may be, they keep things a bit on the calmer side of life when it comes to the group here." Mac explained to him.

"She's got a point, DK." Dick added, leaning back in his chair.

"I guess…" Duncan said thoughtfully before being pulled back to the matter at hand as Lilly bounced up and down, her soggy hair slapping against his face. "I'm going to take Lilly up for a bath and to get dressed. Let me know when you guys decided to leave though, okay?"

He turns and leaves the room before anyone can comment. Parker lets herself watch after him and feel a pang of guilt over abandoning him. He'll be here all alone until Wednesday, which isn't that long in theory, but probably seems like a lifetime to someone that know that when he leaves he's going to be in prison for the next year.

"So, when do we leave? I'm dressed but I'm thinking a post-Lilly oatmeal debacle shower might be in order. So I'll take a quick shower, change into clean and comfy clothes and bring down my stuff. I was moving into Veronica's old room so it's already all packed." Parker moves to the sink and begins washing the dishes as she rambles on. "I'll bring my bags downstairs. Who are we all riding with?"

"Dick and I will be in my car, you can ride with Wallace and Piz, I guess. I think Lilly will probably ride with you, but she might not want to. We'll have to ask later, when they all roll out of bed." Mac explains as she brings her plates to Parker at the sink.

"Oh, Wallace has been up for hours, he went out for a run and…" Parker began explaining to Mac, trailing off when she looks up and catches sight of the subject outside the window. "Oh, there he is now."

Wallace bursts through the kitchen door, repeating what sounded like a phone number over and over. Instead of stopping to great his friends or sitting at the table for breakfast, he runs to the cabinets, opening and closing drawers frenetically, obviously looking for something.

"Can I help you?" Parker hedges, moving a little closer to him.

"Where the hell is the paper? And the pens?" Wallace asks, digging in a drawer full of wooden spoons.

"You mean that?" Mac answers him, pointing at the notepad and pen sitting on the counter, in front of him no less.

"Oh." Wallace grabs the pen and writes down, presumably, the number he had been repeating before tearing of the sheet and shoving it in his pocket. After, obviously, achieving his goal, he looks up and grins. "Hey. What's up?"

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so there's the Parker chapter. Anyone want to venture a guess who'll be the focus of the next chapter? It's written and everything, I just have to find some time to get it typed up and posted. Remember feedback is love.


	34. 31 Duncan

**Title:** The Return 31-Duncan [The Worry]  
**Rating:** PG  
**Word Count:** 6,614  
**Characters/Pairings:** Duncan, Lilly the second, Veronica _(mentions of: Lilly the first, Jake Kane, Celeste Kane, Meg, The Mannings, Liane, Keith, Cassidy) _  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**31**

**Duncan**

~The Worry~

Duncan didn't let Lilly play in the tub, choosing instead to only let her in the water long enough to clean the globs of oatmeal off her. He showers after her, taking a grand total of six minutes. It's been a long time since he's taken any longer in the shower. He's always nervous about leaving his daughter unsupervised, even though she's perfectly safe playing in her playpen in nothing but a diaper. The time he's spent on the run with her have really taken their toll, making him paranoid and neurotic when it comes to Lilly. He knows that everyone thinks he's just in 'crazy dad' mode, completely obsessed with where his daughter is and what she's doing.

His daughter, on the other hand, is perfectly fine alone in her pen, listening to a nursery version of Nirvana's greatest hits on his iPod stereo system. She's focused on her toys and the music and, as far as he can tell, the few blissful moments she has to herself. Duncan imagines that she's already annoyed with him, not yet two and she yearns for the privacy and freedom of teenager. He imagines that she relishes these moments by herself, without her father, and thinks how she can capitalize on them before he's back and she's trapped under his watchful gaze once more. It's ridiculous, he knows this, but he can't help but feel that he's suffocating her a bit in his over-protectiveness. He knows it's the high stress of having to always look over his shoulder, of knowing that eventually they'd be caught one day. It will take a lot of time, and his whole year in prison, to adjust not having the constant fear of discovery on his shoulders.

Duncan gets out of the shower and dries, dresses quickly in the standard jeans and t-shirt. Gone are the days of button downs and khakis, dressing up is useless and unnoticed to an infant. The standard outfit works for any situation he might have throughout the day, from reading Lilly her story to feeding her to putting her to bed. The twenty months of his life has revolved completely around Lilly and her needs and her schedule, it's weird to think that starting next week he would no longer have that. He'd be separated from her for a year and he wouldn't have to plan his day around her naps and meals, wouldn't have to worry about diapers and allergies and healthy portions for a year. They'd never been separated for more than a few minutes, not since the first few weeks of her life when her grandparents had tried to keep them apart.

His parents would do all the worrying, or rather the nanny they'd hired to care for her would do all the worrying. Lilly would be in the capable hands of a professional with several degrees in early childhood development, who would focus all her energy on his little girl for a great deal of money. The thought of leaving her to them made him nervous. They weren't really worthy of his daughter. She was too good for them, but it wasn't like leaving her with Meg's parents was a viable option either. He only prayed that the single year so early in her childhood wouldn't be enough for his parents to corrupt her. Or Meg's parents to brainwash her on their visits. Or either set of grandparents to destroy her innocence like they had with her parents.

Lilly reached for him as he re-entered the bedroom and he forgot all about his imaginings of her wanting to get away from him. Duncan snuggled her to his chest as he dug and outfit out of the suitcase of clothes that he'd brought for her. A little sweat suit so she'd be comfortable and warm for the day. Both of them would be comfortable today and tonight they'd be alone. Again. He supposed they were used to being alone, he just hoped that after spending so much time with other people she wouldn't be upset to find herself with just daddy again. They settled on the bed and Duncan dressed his daughter in the little gray and pink striped pants and top, with pink socks on her cold little toes. Lilly let out a squall before pushing her little arms at him, her palms flat against his chest. He'd still been holding her close to him, but now he released her and let her get comfortable on the bed.

"Kiki." She pointed a tiny finger at her blanket, rolled up in a ball and sitting on his pillow. Duncan handed it to her. "Bear." She pointed now to her stuffed bear that she was so attached to. He handed that to her as well. She curled up on the bed and tugged her blanket up to her chin, tucking her bear under her arm and popped her thumb into her mouth. He wished she wouldn't do that, but he didn't force it out of her mouth either. "Tanks." Her 'thanks' was muffled by her thumb and the press of her bear's head against her chin.

Duncan watched as Lilly's eyes fluttered a few times before shutting completely and her thumb fell limply out of her mouth. A small snore escaped her, causing the corners of his mouth to lift in amusement. His baby snored.

"She's damn cute when she sleeps." Veronica's voice came from the doorway, and when he looked up she was standing there as well. Dressed in jeans and an old Pirate hoodie, she looked just as small and young as she had when they'd first started high school and she'd gotten that sweatshirt as 'welcome to high school' gift from the elder Lilly. He and Logan had had matching ones that had long ago met their doom. Duncan's had been torn one night while he tried to sneak his very drunk sister back into the house not long after she'd given it to him. Logan's had gotten too small before it had been retired to a box on a shelf in a closet in a house that had been burned down three years ago. Veronica had been careful with hers, never tore it, and she hadn't had the misfortune to piss off bikers enough to burn down her house.

"I have to say that I agree with you." Duncan nodded her into the room as he watched his daughter sleep.

"See, you're a little biased, but me, I'm an objective party that can officially say that she's the cutest damn kid on the planet." Veronica moved into the room, a little hesitant. He wished that they'd never argued, it made her wary of being alone with him now. He wished that they could be easy and comfortable like they were before he'd taken off with little Lilly. Like how they'd been before big Lilly had found herself in a coma. Not that he wished for them to be together again, Logan was better suited for her than he'd ever been able to admit, but they'd been able to be around each other without all the weight of things unsaid between them.

"Yeah, you're completely objective." Duncan commented, raising an eyebrow and not bothering to keep the sarcasm from his voice, briefly wondering when it was he became incapable of expressing himself without it.

"So are you going to head into Neptune or stay here until you have to turn yourself over to the police?" Veronica seemed to make a decision then, moving fully into the room and flopping down on the chaise lounger pushed against the wall under the window.

"I'm staying here until Wednesday and then Weidman will pick the baby and I up. We'll be in Neptune until Monday, getting some things settled before I turn myself." Duncan took a breath. Veronica's mouth opened to ask the question that he knew she'd been dying to ask since he told her that he was turning himself in to the police. "Monday morning, eight o'clock."

"Eight o'clock, huh? So you don't get to sleep in on that last free morning?" He shook his head. "How rude."

"Funny." And it was. He'd forgotten the way she looked at things sometimes, even though it was always cynical and jaded, could still be comforting. "I'm actually supposed to be there at three in the afternoon and that's basically what'll be leaked if someone finds out I'm back or the press gets wind of anything. If Lamb was still in office we'd be worried about him not allowing the transfer until the press showed up for his photo op. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I'd be turning myself into my ex-girlfriend's dad instead." He explained, working up a grin for her. He knew how much Mr. Mars loved being sheriff. And how much both he and Veronica hated Lamb.

"Yeah, I'm sure dad's proud of my predilection for law breakers." She shifted around on the chaise, getting comfortable. "He got elected in May in an interim vote, no thanks to me or your dad, by the way. Squeaked by with barely a lead, but either way, at least we're no calling Vinnie sheriff Van Lowe."

"God, that would've been a disaster. Way worse than Lamb." He leaned back against the headboard, trying to get comfortable without disturbing his sleeping daughter.

"No kidding, think of all the criminals he would have let off. All the deals he would've made." He saw her shiver in disgust at the thought.

"Yeah, look at all the ones he made when he was out of office and had no influence." Duncan said wryly.

"Blackmail. I would've used it as blackmail." Veronica chuckled, leaning back against the lounge even though it forced her to look away from him.

"So, what did Lamb do that got him kicked out of office mid-term?" Unable to get comfortable Duncan slid off the bed, causing as little disturbance to the mattress as possible.

"Nothing. He didn't get kicked out… he got killed on the job last spring." Veronica's declaration caused him to freeze in his place. He'd never really liked Don Lamb, not even when he was just Sheriff Mars' deputy, but he never really wished him dead. "Running in without really looking where he was going or what he was doing. Took a bat to the head."

"Lamb is dead? That's news we didn't get in Australia." He moved to the wingback chair placed across from Veronica's chaise in the seating area by the window. He stood next to the chair for a moment before sinking down into it. He looked at Veronica, she was staring out the window, chewing on her bottom lip.

"I guess 'Small Town Sheriff Gets Bludgeoned to Death' isn't really international news worthy." She shifted around to focus on him rather than the trees outside. She was uncomfortable with the topic, probably the whole situation of sitting in his room and chatting.

"Guess not… so, you're all leaving today huh?" He took pity on her and changed the subject. No good could really come from sitting and talking about the news worthiness of small sheriff deaths, especially since her father now occupied that position.

"Well, Logan and I were already leaving, but I know Mac wanted to get going too." She scooted further up on the lounge and pulled her knees up so she rest her chin on them.

"Yeah, they decided to all leave. So I'll be alone here for a few days." Duncan watched her as she readjusted again, fidgeting.

"You could always hitch a ride home today. Or maybe Lilly, other Lilly, will stay here with you. Keep you company." She shifted again.

"Other Lilly?" Duncan asked, his brow furrowing as she stood and moved to sit in the chair next to him. "Not comfortable?"

"Not really, no. And tacking 'the first' and 'the second' onto their name is a little bit of a mouthful. We should really find some better nicknames." Veronica settled for a moment, and then she was still. Finally. "And don't you dare suggest Billy for either of them."

"Come on, Lilly Billy was a _great_ nickname." Duncan defended, not understanding why that was such a horrible nickname when everyone called him _donut_.

"It was horrible nickname." Veronica insisted, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head in disapproval.

"Well, I don't know what else to call them without pissing my sister off or confusing my daughter." He crossed his own arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at her, daring her to come up with better nicknames.

"No, you were never that great at the nickname thing. And baby here looks much too pretty to be called 'Billy' or 'dude'." Veronica gazed over at his daughter with a smile. He recognized it as the one he got when remembering her mother.

"I wanted to tell you that I did read the info that they gave me about my case." He blurted out. He had been a little offended when she'd accused him of not knowing what was going on. Offended mostly because it was the truth, so he'd read the case breakdown his father had sent this morning before going down to breakfast.

"What?" Her eyebrows pulled together so close they almost looked as if she had one instead of two, like she didn't know what he was talking about.

"After using DNA to probe the baby was mine, mom and dad presented a case that I wasn't technically kidnapping her since I am her father and, after Meg's death, legally became her sole parent and guardian. Especially since I had just turned eighteen was legally capable of taking guardianship, which they argued I tried." Duncan looked down at his hands and began to fidget, uneasy with the topic and the fact that he hadn't tried to take legal guardianship before he decided that the only solution was to run. "They, Meg's parents, tried to use the defense that since Meg was seventeen they were legally responsible for the baby and her care because her mother was a minor and had been in a coma so she was legally and mentally didn't have any rights to her body and thus the baby."

"Really? That sounds like a pretty flimsy case." Duncan risked a glance at her. Her eyebrows had separated and shot up in shock. "Especially, if memory serves, and it usually does, Meg turned eighteen before her coma and she was awake and lucid before giving birth. We had a conversation and she was most definitely in her right mind, and she stated very clearly that she didn't want her parents to have any control over her child."

"Yeah, my parents ran that defense too, which is what got the Mannings to drop both their kidnapping charges and their suit for custody. That along with my parents promise that they'll have one weekend a month of supervised visits with her." Duncan finished, grinning at Veronica until he came to the part about the visits. He'd seen what Meg's parents had done to Grace, their own daughter, and didn't want to think what they would have done to their 'granddaughter born of sin' if they'd gotten custody. He didn't want them to have any contact with her at all.

"At least they're supervised visits, right?" Veronica asked, reading his mind. "By who? Court appointed or Kane staff?"

"Kane staff, because it's not court ordered visitation, it's a personal and verbal arrangement that my parents are planning to keep. Good news is if there's anything in the supervisors reports that they don't like my dad intends to revoke the visits and put an end to the arrangement my mother made. Dad even said he'd bring me the monthly reports so I can check them over too. So I think it'll be okay, at least for this first year." Duncan explained the deal, the one thing he'd been sure of before reading the case file this morning.

"That's good. I'm curious though, what made your parents suddenly decide to back their son and get their granddaughter back? As I recall they weren't too quick to jump on the teen dad band wagon when it could've really helped." There was an edge to her voice, that protective edge she got when she felt that people she loved were either in danger or being screwed over.

"I guess two years alone with each other, thinking on what you could've done better as a parent really helps." He shrugged. He had long ago grown accustomed to his parents shortcomings. They were never ones for change and scandal, and it always took them a while to get behind their children's decisions, but eventually they always did. Reluctantly.

"Especially since their parenting led to one kid in a long term coma due to trauma sustained by a psychopath. And the other child is on the run for kidnapping and evading federal custody." Veronica, her voice taking on that protective edge again for some reason. "It's not hard to figure out you went wrong somewhere."

"Yeah, I guess my parents didn't do as good a job with us as they thought, huh?" Duncan asked, leaning back in his chair and studying her face. The edge that had been there a moment ago eased away into a slight smile.

"Yeah they did. You're both crazy, but you're still two of my favorite people and I wouldn't wish either of you to be any other way." Her voice was low, but she grinned at him as she said it.

"Thanks, you're one of my favorite people, too." Duncan smiled back at her, and they sat there for a moment in companionable silence, the way they used to when they were together senior year and she'd come over to study. They'd spend the entire afternoon together, him doing homework and her researching a case, not saying a word.

"So, what is it exactly that you'll be in white collar prison for?" Veronica asked after a minute or two of comfortable silence.

"Evading federal custody. It was supposed to be a couple of years, but dad's lawyers negotiated it down to just the one." Duncan explained, completely at ease now with her.

"Great, I'm sure that year will just fly by. Especially since you're finishing up your last semester of high school in there, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, and then I'll take a couple online courses for college, just some core classes to jump start my high learning experience and get me a little closer to where I'd be if I'd never left."

"At least you won't be lollygagging in there, and you're getting that life of yours back on track." Veronica joked, leaning across the small space between the chairs to punch him in the arm.

"not according to my parents. Apparently I can kiss that much desired political career and future shot at President goodbye now that I'll be an ex-convict and former wanted criminal." He informed her without the slightest hint of regret, at least when it came to the life that his parents had mapped out for him.

"Oh darn." Veronica replied, no sympathy from her on this matter, she'd known all too well how much he didn't want that life.

"No kidding. I feel so relieved I can't even really describe it." He sighed a little, thinking of how disappointed his father was that he wouldn't be president.

"You know, I was never really sure if you wanted it and didn't want to admit because it made you that much more of a dork…" Veronica began, trailing off at his dark look.

"Dork? I was never a dork." Duncan protested, his voice deep with faux anger.

"Oh, you were always a dork." She informed him, tilting her head a little to the side, her signature move.

"I wanted it at first, I mean, when dad would take me to the office and show me pictures of him and all the important men and would tell me that one day I'd be one of those important men too. The most important and most powerful man in the world, President of the United States of America. It sounds great at first, like the best job ever, mostly stuff like nobody telling me what to do and eating ice cream for breakfast." Duncan explained, wanting to convey how deep all this president stuff went with his parents, and how much it has affected him. How much it has screwed with him and his expectations on life. "Then the planning really started and they were telling me which sports I could play. Don't get hurt but be well rounded. The right kind of friends that wouldn't embarrass me when the press dug into my past. Mom started telling me which girl I should marry, not date, but marry because it was all about the long term planning at that point. And dad had my college picked out, and what exactly I'd go for my doctorate in. We were all about the Ivy League there, and I didn't get a choice."

At eight I didn't really know what politics were, but I knew I'd have a degree in political science and law. Then there was the parties for the governor and he'd set up internships. I realized I had no interest in any of it at this point apart from their approval. By then though, that didn't hold any appeal either."

"Really?" Veronica looked a little shocked at this inside look into his childhood, something he'd tried very hard not to let anyone know about. "And when did you stop striving for Jake and Celeste's approval?"

"Mom told me you were my sister and dad had this long drawn out affair with you mom that was apparently still going on. So I didn't much care for dad's kind of approval after that." He began fidgeting again, the topic of the year and a half he'd spent thinking they were siblings always made him nervous. "I mean, he knew and didn't say anything. Looking back on it, he didn't _really_ know, but he knew there was a chance. But afterwards, when I broke up with you and I was treating my dad more and more like the enemy…" He broke off.

"The enemy?" She prompted, leaning forward in her chair at this new information.

"Yeah, we fought a lot for a while, at least until Lilly… then it gets kind of hazy for a while. But up until then we fought constantly and my mom started getting this look on her face like she'd won or something. Like it was some sort of victory over my dad and Liane and you. She'd won the battle. Dad was the bad guy. Your mom was no longer the 'cool mom' that everyone loved, she was the mom that had an affair and let her daughter date her half brother. And you, you were the sister I made out with." He took a big breath and wished that he had something to keep his hands busy. Wished that he'd picked up Logan's habit of pulling at his sleeves because even that seemed better than what he was doing.

"Then Lilly was gone and Logan went off the deep end for a while, when she was first in the coma and he was a wreck? I don't remember much, but I remember that. Him raging one minute, begging and pleading the next. You're the only one he would actually _talk_ to and _I_ couldn't go to you for anything, not after finding out we were siblings and not after the way I 'broke' up with you. They were all I had, so I stopped fighting with them, but I haven't been able to respect either of them since."

"You know, I would've helped you any way. I needed someone too and it's not like Logan was any comfort at the time. He alternated between sobbing and screaming. Bitching about everyone and everything one second, begging me to fix it the next. Although, that was preferable to when he turned on me." As she spoke she began fidgeting again, obviously this was a tough subject for her as well.

"Yeah, he really came out of the denial stage and into the rage stage with a focused mission didn't he?" This was even more dangerous territory than the possible siblings scenario.

"Uh-huh, about that. If you thought I was your sister, why didn't you defend me? Protect me? Your best friend was attacking me, for no reason because you knew the truth, so why didn't you stick up for me in all that time?" Her voice had more than a little edge to it now.

"C'mon Veronica, you know why." He stood and began pacing, trying to think of ways to redirect the conversation. All the lovely comfort from earlier gone, now all there he could feel was a tension that he'd been trying to escape for years.

"No, Duncan, I don't. Explain it to me." She demanded.

"Because it was Logan."

"What?" Veronica shot off her own chair, either in confusion or shock, he wasn't sure.

"It was Logan, you know what he's like, especially back then. It was hard to go against him in anything. He was stronger than me, still is." Duncan explained feebly, sitting back down to allow Veronica to tower over him in her anger.

"You know, sometimes, he would probably say the same about you. Either way, you know you would've been the only person that could control him, you would've known it back then too. Logan, as strong as he is, he would've backed off for you because he loved you. You're his family, the only kind of family he recognizes at this point. He would've backed off. It would have led to him completely ignoring me, but that would have been better than the all out war he declared." Duncan could tell that the only thing keeping her from shouting was the sleeping on the baby less than three feet away. And he was grateful for it.

"Okay." He conceded the point.

"Okay? Okay what?" She insisted and Duncan was reminded of the fact that she could never just leave things be, never. Not even when they were little.

"Okay, I could have stopped it and it would have spared you a lot of stuff that you went through. But I didn't. I didn't because I didn't want people to think, to know, I was still in love with you. And I really didn't want anyone figuring out the real reason I broke up with you." It was a confession that he'd never wanted to make. "I didn't want you to figure it out. I know that nobody ever could've without having a conversation with my parents or yours and even then they barely admitted any of it to themselves. But I wasn't exactly operating with logic at the time."

So I let you take all the blame and I let Logan release all that rage he had about Lilly and his dad and his mom's drinking and me and everything else on you because you could handle it. You always were the sweetest and most innocent of the four of us, but we all knew that you'd always be the strongest. You're dad loved you, no matter what, so did your mom even though she left. You were always the one getting us out of trouble and you were always the first to cope with things. You were stronger than me and even though he'd probably never admit it, you were stronger than Logan. Still are. Probably always will be. Your dad prepared you for when things go bad. Our parents told us it never would because we're rich and money can always fix it. Buys everything, even happiness."

"Turns out, money really just made everything worse for you all. The 09ers get screwed more than us lowly 02ers. And it happens in the public eye, which makes it even worse." Her shoulders were still tense, but she relaxed enough to sit down again, albeit on the chaise lounge which was further away.

"Yeah, and now I'm gearing up to head back into that public eye. Lucky me. Maybe I should just skip out. Run. It's not like the last two years were so bad. I could give you my address and you guys could visit. Of course I might not be able to go back to Australia-" It was stupid, he knew that, but he didn't realize how stupid it was to voice this particular thought until Veronica cut him off.

"Are you kidding me? You've got this tiny little sentence compared to what it could have been and you want to run again? Are you kidding me?" She was really pissed now, probably imagining how she'd be obligated to help him run if chose this path again. She might not agree with the decision, she really kind of didn't the first time, but she would never leave him to do this by himself. Not when it ran the risk of him getting caught and in trouble.

"Actually, yeah, I kind of was joking." It wasn't a joke, not entirely, but he knew he'd never get away with it again. Not when Keith Mars was the sheriff now and would catch him in minutes. Not when it would put Veronica at risk also.

"Well, it was a bad joke." The tension eased off a little and she leaned back onto the lounge again, her arms crossed in front of her again.

"Yeah, I know, I shouldn't have made it." Duncan said, trying to placate her. "Except that, well, I was thinking about it earlier and it seemed valid. I hate that I'm here, in this position of missing a year of my daughter's life and I'll be locked up."

"The thing is… the thing is that none of us should be here, in this situation. Because there really was no reason for you to run and there was no reason for you to kidnap her. If we weren't so headstrong and stupid and thinking we had all the answers then we would have looked into, or at least realized, there was a _legal_ way around this. But you ran and I helped you and that might've been a mistake so I'm going to help you, you know, like I should have then." She had scooted to the edge of the lounge, leaning forward and putting her face closer to him than it had been when she'd been sitting right next to him. He could see the strain of not being able to shout at him on it, see her annoyance that he even considered running again and she had to have this conversation with him. "Stay. It's only a year and you have one advantage now that you didn't then. The legal battle is over and after your year is up, you're guaranteed custody of your daughter. So stay. Be here and do this the right way."

Even if the last two years weren't so bad, it'd get worse. Eventually it gets bad because running for the rest of your life won't be easy. It'll just get worse and worse until it becomes unbearable. Living like that, looking over your shoulder and praying that they don't find you, it'll destroy you and it most certainly will destroy your relationship with Lilly."

"Okay, I know. I'll stay. I wish I didn't have to leave her, but if I have to sacrifice a year, just one, to keep her for all the other years, then I guess that's what I'll do. Only thing I can do actually. You're right, I should never have run in the first place and it wasn't all you. I was going to run, take my little girl and go without a plan or anything. I had the keys to the yacht and I expected that to be enough. My parents hadn't embraced the idea of being grandparents yet and I didn't think I really had choice but to take her and go. If you hadn't stepped in with a plan I would've gotten caught and charged then." Duncan took a deep breath, it was a hard thing to do, admitting you were wrong when the decision you thought was best for everyone was the worst choice you could have made. "My parents, of course, would have made a deal. They would have agreed to my giving up all rights to Lilly if they dropped the kidnapping charges, I know it. And I have no idea where I'd be now without her, if I would have stayed. If I'd listened to my parents and stayed here, under their thumb, I don't even know where we'd all be. Someplace different, that's for sure."

"Yeah, but you know, after everything, I'm kinda glad things went the way they went. I thank God all the time that Lilly didn't die, it still screwed us all up, but at least she didn't die. So I'm glad it didn't go differently. Could you imagine if she had died? How much more screwed up we'd be? Or how different we'd be if it hadn't happened at all? Wallace and Mac wouldn't be in my, our, lives." Veronica stood to pace, almost talking to herself as she went on about what their lives could have become. "How do you think we would have managed to stay friends? The four of us? Lilly and Logan playing that game they called a relationship until it blew up in their faces and took us out as collateral. Logan and I wouldn't have ever been together, not with Lilly in my face as a constant reminder that you didn't break the girl code by dating a friend's ex."

"I'm wouldn't have Lilly - baby Lilly - so I'm not really complaining about the way things turned out. But I can't help but wish the road had been a bit smoother." Duncan agreed.

Veronica paced for another second before settling into the chair next to him again. "Hopefully we're out of the woods now, that your brief incarceration will be the last in a long string of bad events."

"Do me a favor?" He asked, biting the bullet. _No time like the present._

"I think that past events have proven that no matter how stupid, my answer to that is always 'sure, why not'. So - as long as you're not planning on running again - sure, why not." Veronica replied, leaning back in her chair and waiting for the favor.

"I'm not running, but what if I'm planning a felony? A different one?" Duncan questioned, relieved that the conversation had definitely taken on a lighter tone.

"I help Logan and Weevil with those all the time, so… sure, why not?" She repeated, smiling now.

"When little Lilly and I get back to Neptune we'll have a couple days before I have to turn myself in, I wanted to get a will drawn up and signed first. In fact, I've already dictated the terms to a private lawyer over the phone. My parents don't know anything about this, him or the will." Veronica's smile faded away and her brow drew together in confusion. "I named you and Logan as Lilly's godparents and guardians if something happens to me. If we could do the christening on Saturday, my mother already has it planned, she just doesn't know I'm naming her two most hated people as godparents. This was before I knew Lilly was awake, but I'd still prefer you if you don't mind?"

"No, of course not. I'm sure Logan would agree that we'd be happy to do it." Her agreement made the ache in the pit of Duncan's stomach lessen a bit, knowing that no matter what his daughter wouldn't end up with his parents.

"Good. I've also kind of named you as my emergency contact. Logan is on there too, as a secondary contact, but you'll be contacted first. You'll be in charge of all medical decisions should I be incapable. While I'm in prison, you'll have legal rights to Lilly." He was trying to remember the specifics of what he and the lawyers had discussed privately. It been difficult keeping this from his parents when everyone was on Jake's payroll. "I spoke to the lawyer, he said that if I have the two of you named specifically in the agreement my parents will have to give you access. I don't expect you to take her home with you, I know that you're moving in with Mac in January and Logan is stilly house hunting, but I was hoping you'd spend time with her. I don't want my parents to get too firm a hold on her. I trust the two of you with her, in a way that I don't trust them."

"I can understand that." Veronica nodded.

"I want her to know you. If something happens, well I want to be sure that she won't end up with them. That she won't be their second shot at being parents. They suck at it in a way that puts all other shitty parents to shame." He loved his parents, but there was no use in pretending that they had been anything other than crappy parents.

"Except for…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, except for them." Duncan agreed.

"Okay, Logan and I will take care of her, see her as much as we can." Veronica stood, glancing at the clock. This time she was standing to pace nervously or change seats. "We'll see you later this week?"

"Yeah, I'd like you to be there on Thursday, as my witness to signing my will. Plus I want you and Logan to each have a copy, just in case." He stood with her, to walk her to the door. She hesitated a moment before heading to the door, with him on her heels.

"You got it. Will on Thursday and christening on Saturday." She recited, turning to him in the doorway to face him. "Do you want me to come with you on Monday morning?"

"No, my parents and sister Lilly are coming, any more than that might make it too much of circus." Duncan smiled and leaned in for a hug.

"Okay, but I'll visit you in prison, so put me on the list. Okay?" Veronica joked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You got it." He squeezed her tight and felt her do the same. They held on for minute before releasing each other. He stood in the doorway, watching as she walked down the hall to her room. Halfway down the hall she turned and walked a few steps backward.

"By the way, 'sister Lilly' sounds like a nun, so you might want to come up with something better." Veronica called, grinning a moment before turning back around, taking the last two steps to her bedroom, she disappeared through the doorway.

Duncan turned back into his room and shut the door. He stared at his daughter a moment, asleep on his bed, before moving toward her. Slowly, carefully, he lifted her, shifted her position so she was no longer lying across the center of the mattress. He crawled in beside her to take a nap himself. He laid down on his back, and shut his eyes, but the worrying didn't stop. Probably never would.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, there's a lot of dialog in this chapter, but it goes over some Duncan/Veronica issues, both past and present. It's a conversation without the shouting and screaming that always seem to plague Veronica's heart-to-heart convos. I'm not sure if I got the tone right, so you'll have to let me know. I find that Duncan is my hardest voice to do, probably because he was never such an emotive character and even though he was a 'main' character for the first season and a half you never really got inside his head all that much


	35. 32 Lilly

**Title:** The Return 32-Lilly [The Break]  
**Rating:** PG-13 (because I'm pretty sure there's some swearing or something… it's Lilly)  
**Word Count:** 6,616  
**Characters/Pairings:** Lilly I, Veronica, Logan _(mentions of: Duncan, Lilly II, Aaron, Weevil, OFC, Piz, Dick and Mac) Logan/Veronica_  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different

* * *

**The Return**

**32**

**Lilly**

~The Break~

"Nice chat?" Lilly asked from the chair by the windows as Veronica entered the bedroom.

"Actually, yeah, it was." Veronica informed her, moving towards her bed to adjust the two open suitcases on the bed.

"I didn't hear any yelling and screaming, so it seems that you've made up." She pointed out, standing up and moving away from her chair.

"I guess we made a start at it at least. This time we'll be friends without any illusions our previous pedestals gave us." Veronica stood there, staring at the open suitcases for a moment, hands fisted on her hips. Her best friend never changed, standing there, making a plan of attack on the whole packing thing.

Lilly walked around to the side of the bed and sat, staring at Veronica stare at the suitcases, lost in thought. After a moment she laid down and waited as Veronica gave up on her packing plan and came around to lay next to her. "Well, good for you guys then. I guess."

"Yeah. Where's Logan?" Veronica turned onto her side to face Lilly, after a moment or two she mirrored the move.

"He went downstairs to pack snacks." Her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper before continuing on, trying not to let the disappointment show in her voice. "So you're really leaving early?"

"Yep. To be honest, this reunion has been a little weird." Veronica's voice lowered as well, her lashes fluttering a little as she looked down and avoided Lilly's gaze.

"I know what you mean, who would've thought that the Donut would be here. That was a twist." Lilly laughed, letting her best friend know that she didn't take offense to the comment. The whole reunion thing _had_ been weird, and unexpected.

"You know, it could've only happened this way, all of crammed together under on roof and forced to work things out. Still, I think I would've preferred if it had just been the four of us." Veronica shifted a little closer to Lilly, pulling a pillow down under her head. "I think it might've been a little better if all the drama hadn't played out with quite as large an audience."

"And you and Logan's bedroom performances had been a little more private too?" Lilly asked, giggling at the sudden indignation on Veronica's face.

"I hate you so much right now." Veronica said with a serious face, but after a moment the façade broke and she joined in on the giggles.

"Dear Penthouse, I thought it would be a long and lonely vacation, alas…" Logan's voice sounded from the doorway.

"Shut up, you big jerk." It was Lilly's turn to fake anger, scowling at him as she got of the bed and Veronica twisted around to look at him.

"I thought you'd be done, or nearly done, packing by now." Logan commented as he walked to the bed to kiss his girlfriend, sparing only the tiniest glance at the empty suitcases.

"I had a talk with Duncan and then the queen of let-someone-else-do-it showed up." Veronica explained, sliding off the bed and returning to her stance in front of the suitcases.

"Me? Queen? Why thank you. I shall do my best to uphold the standards of which my noble position demands of me." Lilly joked, holding a mocking hand over her heart as she feigned a the accent more typical of a southern belle.

"The two of you are certainly in a good mood." Logan commented, smirking at Lilly as wrapped his arms around Veronica's waist.

"Take a knee Logan, I wish to knight thee." Lilly demanded, still feigning her accent.

"What if I don't want to be knighted?" Logan asked, his smirk becoming an actual smile as Lilly looked around for something to use to knight him with.

"You don't… Gasp." Lilly acted affronted as she spotted an umbrella propped against the wall by the dresser. "Oh the scandal!" She moved her hand from her chest to press the back of it down against her forehead. She moaned a little and then faked a faint and fell back onto the bed. The moved shook the bed and the suitcase Veronica had begun loading clothes into bounced as the other one rocked and slipped off the bed completely.

"You know, sometimes you can be a real dork." Logan told her, rolling his eyes and moving away from Veronica to the other side of the bed and flopping down next to her. Their heads lay side by side, their legs hanging off opposite sides of the bed.

"You guys just lay there and relax. I'll pack." Veronica was chuckling as she readjusted the suitcases again and made room for both of them at the end of the bed, flipping them open and continuing to pack Logan's boxers into one.

Logan sat up suddenly, nearly catching Lilly with his elbow. "What do you need me to do, babe?"

"Nothing." Veronica said simply, moving onto his socks.

"C'mon, I'll help." Logan insisted.

"I've seen the way you pack, so just go get all our stuff and bring it over here." Veronica instructed as she turned to pack the other suitcase with her under things.

Logan immediately stood and went to the closet, gathering their clothes in one big sweep of his arms. Lilly and Veronica watched as he wrapped his arms around the mass of clothing and lifted the hangers off the closet rod. He brought them over to the bed, the girls following his movement, and attempted to shove them all into the empty suitcases.

"Stop, they're still on their hangers." Veronica protested, looking shocked.

"It's okay, next time we come up we'll bring them back. Or get new ones." Logan explained, still trying to get it all into the suitcase.

"Stop, okay? I'll do the rest, just…" Veronica looked around the room for a moment before pointing at the chair Lilly had been sitting in earlier. "…go sit."

Logan scowled at the command, glanced back at the suitcase and pile of clothes and then to Veronica again.

"Sit." She commanded a second time. With his scowl still firmly in place, Logan trudged to the seating area and pointedly chose the chair she had not been pointing to, causing both girls to roll their eyes.

"Good boy." Lilly giggled, earning a sneer from Logan. She continued to laugh while she readjusted herself of the bed so she was lying on her stomach and facing Logan but still could easily see Veronica as she was packing. What am I supposed to do with all these people without you two?"

"Well, you still have Dunc and you know Dick. And you know everyone else now, so don't act like we're leaving you with strangers." Veronica told her as she began pulling Logan's clothes from the pile and began folding and packing them into his suitcase, not glancing up while she spoke.

"I'm not so sure about that Piz kid, though." She whined.

"He's basically harmless, and you'd know that if you actually gave him the time of day." Logan told her, his scowl now replaced with a look that she could almost describe as worry.

"I love that he thinks he's harmless." She heard Veronica mutter. Logan didn't seem to hear her and Lilly decided not to comment on it. Veronica had told her all about how Logan had beaten Piz into the hospital the year before after a pseudo sex tape had been released on the internet.

"I guess I could be a bit nicer, but to be honest, he's kind of fun to be mean to." Lilly explained.

"Oh. Lilly, don't be mean to him. It's too easy, and quite honestly he's a little too sensitive to it. It's like kicking a puppy." Veronica scolded.

"He is a little like a puppy, has the eyes for it and everything." Lilly commented, pouting a little. She hated it when she was told to be nice, it made her feel like such a bully, which she was. But she didn't actually like feeling like one.

"Yeah, so be nice to him, after all, he's not really like us. He doesn't understand or cope with things the way we do. So be nice, okay? He's kind of simple in that didn't-grow-up-in-Neptune sort of way." _So it turns out that Veronica was still a pro at giving lectures_.

"Maybe that should be my new way of doing things. Be nice. Because my way of being-" Lilly started.

"A bitch?" Logan supplied, interrupting her.

"Don't be so blunt Logan. I prefer _sassy_." Lilly informed him.

"Well, I prefer honest and honestly you're a bitch. Or were. Or will be. Whichever you prefer, sassy pants."

"Okay. Being a _bitch_ hasn't helped me any, so I'll take it down a notch." Lilly finished her earlier statement.

"Not too much, just with out friends." Veronica interjected. "I'd hate for you to become the 'sweet' one."

"And you the bitch?" Lilly asked, turning to focus on Veronica. She'd gotten the impression that Veronica wasn't necessarily known as the 'sweet' one these days either.

"Don't worry Lil, I'm going to be the bitch no matter what. I've spent the last four years earning the title." Veronica laughed, closing the lid on Logan's suitcase and zipping it shut. "You don't get it just because you had it first."

Veronica pulled his full suitcase off the bed and wheeled it to stand next to the bedroom door. Logan stood and went into the bathroom.

"Maybe… maybe I need to make a break." Lilly said distractedly as she watched the bathroom door. Logan hadn't closed it, and now she could hear the clinking and shuffling of objects.

"What?" Veronica asked, looking up from her partially packed suitcase with a confused look. Logan wore a similar look as he poked his head out of the bathroom, a toiletries kit in his left hand and a bottle of cologne and aftershave in his left.

"A total break. With who I was, because no good came out of her. Think where we'd be if I'd thought about more than myself or the moment. We'd be a lot better off, that's where. If I'd thought about how it'd affect anyone else I might've realized what a bad idea _it_ was." Lilly took a deep breath. It turned out listing your failings, your faults, wasn't much fun. Or easy. "But I didn't put any thought into it at the time. Then I lied about it and thought it was the greatest secret, thought it made me so cool. I lied and I was stupid. So maybe I need to make a break with who I was."

"Okay, so what is you're first order of business? What's the first break?" Veronica asked, her eyebrows furrowing together in more than just a little concern.

"I couldn't admit it before, thought it was all part of the game, but… I'm in love with Eli. I didn't want to be, not then because, well, it was a game and he was just supposed to be a pawn. A move against my mother and her abhorrence of all things poor and Mexican. It was akin to banging the pool boy. A shame I was bringing on my mother's perfect country club reputation." She squirmed a little on the bed, uncomfortable with the confession. She didn't particularly enjoy admitting to this, but if there was anyone that would understand about complicated it was these two. "I wasn't supposed to actually care, so I treated him like a pawn and a dirty little secret. But I loved him, and even though it's been years, still do because I never had time to get over it. He might be, but I find that I'm not."

"Well, at least you're admitting it now." Logan commented, finally coming out of the bathroom, dropping his shaving kit on top of Veronica's clothes, causing her to sigh in annoyance.

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked, panic blooming in her chest that she hadn't hidden it as well as she had thought.

"Well, all last night you bitch about Weevs and then you're absolute and unnecessary hatred of that Jessie chick, at least you're admitting it." Logan explained, going over to sit in his chair again before muttering, "Not like Jessie wasn't annoying though."

"Well, I didn't realize I was in love with him, okay? Not until on the way home last night. He didn't come home and I had what felt like a cannonball in my stomach at the thought of him and her…" She trailed off, the renewed cannonball-stomach feeling making her incapable of holding back the instinctive grimace.

"I'm sorry Lilly, he's had four years to get over you, but he's had three years of stewing over the way things really were back then to build up a lot of issues over it. Over the fact that you were seeing Logan, and him and Logan's…" Veronica cut herself off, unable to add the word _dad_ at the end of the statement. Lilly understood, when she looked back on it she was surprised she wasn't more creeped out back then. Like she kind of was right now. She swallowed the building lump in her throat, shocked in retrospection that she'd thought that was any kind of okay. _Sleeping with my boyfriend's dad? Ex-boyfriend, but still…_

"So I guess that's the question then. The big break. Do I try? Do I tell him how I feel and ask him to forgive me and see if we can't make a go of it? I mean, should I try and get him back? Fight for him?" She asked, looking at her two best and oldest friends.

"Or… or should I pack it in? admit defeat and leave him alone? Get over him and myself and start over?" The very thought of it, admitting defeat in anything, made her stomach turn and her heart beat faster. It was giving up, and she'd never done that before. She hadn't given up when she and Logan broke up, tormenting and tempting him to come back every time. She hadn't given up when Aaron had followed her home and tried to intimidate her into giving him back the tapes. No, instead she had taunted him into picking up an ashtray and slamming it into her head in an attempt to kill her and silence her on the subject forever. She hadn't given up in the hospital, when she'd been in a coma for years with no hope of waking. She's pretty sure if Aaron had succeeded in killing her she wouldn't have given up until he had faced justice, would have haunted Veronica and Logan until they found out who really killed her. But now, after a lifetime of never giving up, after all that, she was going to just give up.

"Lilly, I… I think that you should probably… well, use this as an opportunity to make a clean break with who you were and with Weevil. If you're serious about it, than it should be a clean break." Veronica suggested, straightening up and looking at her in a way that Lilly often imagined a real mom would look. Concerned and worried and loving and supportive. How sick was it that the only time she ever got that look was from her best friend? "I think that there will be just a bit too much baggage between the two of you for you ever to make a real go of it."

"So you're saying I should keep my mouth shut and move on?" Lilly swallowed again as the lump got bigger and the cannonball got heavier and seemed to move up into where her heart usually was. "Let go?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying." Her voice was soft, but firm and Lilly couldn't help but see the wisdom in Veronica's advice.

"I have to admit that's not what I was _hoping _you'd say. I mean, there was a lot of between the two of you and you didn't just move on." Lilly pointed out, trying not to sound as defensive as she suddenly felt. After all, what made them and what they had so much more special that her and Eli and what they could have?

"God Lilly, we haven't had four years to stew, apart form each other." Veronica explained, just a hint of frustration coming into her voice, probably responding to the hint of defensiveness that had been in Lilly's. "We haven't been out of each other's face long enough for there to be anything like your situation."

It was reasonable, she had to admit that. Logan and Veronica had been forced to deal with everything between them together, mostly, and in the moment. And then there was the fact that the bad things between them never included an affair with the other's parent.

"And neither of us started off as a pawn in the game against our parents. We started seeing each other because we couldn't help it. It was like a force of nature, not a dirty secret." Logan added, the same look of concern that was on Veronica's face was on his as well and Lilly suddenly felt like such a child. It'd been a feeling that had been coming on at random times over the last few days, watching her brother be a dad. Logan and Veronica being in love in what seemed like such an intense way. Taking care of each other.

"You kept it a secret though. You told me you did." She felt petulant and even more childish, continuing to argue when she knew they were both right. But she couldn't give up yet, couldn't give up hope that they'd change their minds and tell her to go for it. She wouldn't otherwise, she'd back off if that's what they ultimately told her to do, because she was a child compared to them at this point. She'd gone through stuff, but no where near what they'd gone through, being in a coma and all. They were the adults here, the ones with actual adult experience. Actual experience at being _in love_.

"Yeah, but that was more because Duncan had run away and we wanted to tell him in person. We wanted it to come from us." Veronica's voice had gone all soft and sympathetic again, like she could read Lilly's thoughts and understood that this was just a front. A show she had to put on so it didn't seem like she'd given up too easily. So she could really feel like she'd made the right decision.

"And she was never a _dirty_ secret. Just a secret, a temporary, but hot one. You'd never have told us about Weevil given the choice. If it was four years ago and my dad hadn't taken all the choices away, you wouldn't have told anyone about him." Logan raised his eye brows, almost daring her to argue with him. And she couldn't because she wouldn't have told anyone anything about Eli if she hadn't been in a coma and Veronica hadn't gone digging around in order to find the real attempted-murderer. She hated it when Logan got insightful, and as much as she'd like to say that this was an annoying and new development she couldn't. Logan had always been more insightful than she was. He'd operated on theory and feeling and instinct and the fact that he'd almost made a career out of studying people.

"No, I wouldn't' have, he wasn't that important then, even though I loved him." Lilly's own voice was barely above a whisper, weak to her own ears. "I never stopped thinking of him as a pawn and I never let myself think of him as more."

"It's great that you're thinking more of others now, more of what you feel, but it wouldn't be fair to Wee… Eli. Not now." Veronica told her, coming over to next to her on the bed and doing her best to put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"I don't think it'd be fair to you either. You're making a fresh start, you'll become someone new. you don't know if that person will love Weevil or if you'll be someone he wants to be with. Give yourself a chance to grow up some, to become who you want to be now before you decide who you'll be with." It was a good suggestion, but it rubbed a little that it was Logan that gave it. Why he couldn't be a typical, insensitive, oblivious guy she'd never know, but it grated on the nerves a bit.

Lilly let out a deep breath, letting the annoyance go, remembering that she was going to be less of a bitch and more open. More honesty and less scheming. Being nicer to her friends, including Logan, was at the top of her new list of goals.

"That's a good point. I didn't'…" She faltered a little, hating that she wasn't going to get what she wanted this time. Hating that she had to admit that she might not want what she wants because she might not really know what she'll want. And that was just the kind of circular logic she'd been avoiding all this time while she'd been avoiding her feelings. "I didn't think that the break with who I used to be might mean a break with what I want, a change in what I want."

"Lilly, just figure yourself out. That's the main thing, to learn about you and figure out what that means without anyone else weighing in. Without anyone else deciding who you are and what they need you to be." Veronica rubbed consoling circles on her back as she spoke. Lilly leaned into the touch, wishing for a hug and an assurance that in the end she'd be okay, she'd turn out okay.

"That's not going to be so easy when I'll be living with the Kanes. Living my life according to the Ice Bitch's rules." Her voice was hard and bitter and Veronica's consoling circles and concerned expression made it even more so. She wouldn't be able to expect this kind of support from the one person in the world whose actual _job_ it was to give it. Celeste Kane, society wife and full-time mother didn't seem to have a maternal bone in her body when it came to her daughter.

"What are your other choices?" Veronica asked, getting off the bed again to zip up her full suitcase.

"Don't really have any. Not really." Lilly's voice cracked dejectedly when she realized that she was twenty-one, almost twenty-two, and without any other alternatives to living with mommy. And daddy, she supposed, but it's not like he was ever around. It was more than a full time job running a Fortune 500 company and billion dollar bank account.

"Well, here's one. I'm moving out of the Grand. I've been looking buying a little house on the beach. Dick still wants to stay in the suite, at least until the house he wants opens up when the renter's lease runs out in June. My place, the one I've been looking at, it's got three bedrooms and I was going to try and talk Dick into renting a room. I don't like him alone, so if you want to be roomies with Dick, it's not such a bad thing." Logan proposed, then continued when he saw the look of horror on both her and Veronica's faces. "Especially with this whole Mac thing, she kept him in line pretty much all summer, so it might even be fun for you. At least until he buys his place and you can figure out where to go from there."

"Like a lead up to an apartment of something?" Lilly asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, I mean, you're parents were paying for the suite for DK before I moved in, and still, then they were paying his half. Until he ran off and left me with the entire bill. Dick pays for his half though, don't worry." Logan explained.

"Okay, what about until you moved out?" She was a little less nervous about the situation, a little more intrigued at the idea of living in a hotel. Room service everyday, a maid coming in to make her bed every day and refresh her towels. Of course that wasn't all that different from living in the Kane household, they had staff that did all that stuff.

"You'll stay with me. It'll be like an extended slumber party." Veronica offered, grinning at the idea. Lilly grinned back, the sudden thought of sleeping over at Veronica's and doing makeovers and reading magazines and watching movies. Doing all the girlie stuff they used to do, and it would give her easier access to Veronica and the help she'd need for her continuing high school courses. They could study and Lilly could borrow Veronica's notes from high school, if she still had them, and it would be like… like they were sisters.

"Yeah, I should close on the house on Tuesday or Wednesday. Move in next week and that'll take a grand total of one trip because I don't have any furniture to move. Veronica is going to decorate for me, so I should be in the house by the end of next week. It won't be a long stay at Casa de Mars." Logan explained, leaning forward in his seat and getting excited. She was sure he was more excited at the prospect of moving into his own house than he was of Lilly moving into the hotel suite, but she couldn't blame him. He'd been there for two years at this point, she didn't plan on being there that long.

"It'll be fine. You won't have to stay under Celeste's roof for long." Veronica assured her.

"They're staying in the Neptune house for the next year, so they'll be close to Duncan and all, I'm sure. After that, they'll probably go back to their separate houses in Napa and Paris. They'll most likely leave the house open for Duncan and the baby, otherwise I'd stay there. It's probably a good thing I won't be setting up in my old room. You know, they left it exactly the way I left it? How weird is that?" Lilly said, more to herself than to either of her friends.

"Pretty weird." Veronica agreed, a funny note in her voice that made Lilly curious. She opened her mouth to ask before she remember. Veronica had been in her room while she was in the coma, dressed up like cater waiter in order to sneak up to her room and check the vent for clues of Logan's innocence. When she'd found the tapes with Duncan and they'd watched them together. When her little brother and best friend had watched her have sex with her brother's best friend's dad. Her ex-boyfriend's dad. _Classy Lilly_, she mocked herself internally.

"I guess, it'll make it easier for you to help me with my new and rather intense school courses. The goal is to finish up two years of high school courses to start college next September." Lilly shook off her thoughts, and started laying out her other future plans. "I'd always planned on Vassar, but I think I'll go to Hearst. Closer to home and less stressful."

"It's not like it's a party school, Lilly. It's a major school, Baby Ivy. There's a lot of stress involved." Veronica told her, sounding a little offended that there would be no stress involved in going to Hearst.

"I know, but, it'll be less stressful than being alone. I'll be a few years behind, but I'll still be doing it with you guys." Lilly backtracked, not wanting to upset Veronica over something as ridiculous as college and whether or not it would be as stressful as her once dream school.

"Okay, while you guys get into the school stuff, I'm going to go pack up the car." Logan said, standing up. He swept the suitcase off the bed and picked up the other one by the door. He slung Veronica's laptop case and book bag over his shoulder and, with the strength in his pinky finger, clung to Veronica's make up case.

"Go, my big strong pack horse." Veronica encouraged, lifting the straps to her laptop case and book bag over his head so they wouldn't slip off his shoulder. She gave him a quick, hard kiss on the lips and backed away.

Logan hitched the bags a bit higher, and tried to continue out the bedroom door. His width, aided by two suitcases with a laptop and books piled on top of them, was too much to make it through the door and he ended up having to turn sideways in order to get out. This caused them to giggle, but they really started laughing when they heard him bump into the wall outside the bedroom and a muffled "oof".

Lilly stalked Veronica around the room as she checked for anything they may have missed in the packing process. Veronica took Logan's wallet and very well loved and dog-eared novel from the drawer in the bedside table. They stripped the bed and left the sheets in a pile next to it, folding the blankets and duvet and piling them on the bed along with the pillows.

Lilly checked the bathroom for items, listening to Veronica open and shut all the drawers and replacing the empty hangers in the closet. Logan hadn't left anything in the bathroom but a bunch of dirty towels slung haphazardly on the towel rack to be picked up, cleaned and put back by the cleaning crew that would come in on Wednesday. She flipped off the lights in the bathroom and rejoined Veronica in the bedroom, where her best friend was waiting patiently by the door. They turned the lights off to the bedroom and left, closing the door behind them.

"So this is a real break through for you. A big change." Veronica started as the headed down the stairs.

"Well, not yet, not really. All it is at this point is talk. We'll see about things once I get home and have to start facing things." Lilly countered, following her best friend.

"Yeah, but you've already started. You've already made the decision. I've never known you to change your mind after coming to a decision." Veronica insisted. It never ceased to amaze Lilly the amount of faith her best friend had in her.

"I don't think I'm going to start dating again for a while either." Lilly announced as they came to the bottom of the stairs. "I'll make the goal six months. Six months for me to really make an effort on myself. I'll focus on school and you guys and myself. I'll graduate and get my diploma. I've got six months to study for the test and get my now glorified GED. Six months to be a real friend again before I start trying to be a girlfriend or whatever. To get to know you and Logan again, to get to know your new friends and maybe make some of my own. Six months to re-learn what it is to be me. Lilly Kane. Sister, friend, aunt. I think it's a good goal."

"Yeah, well those things might take longer than six months, though." Veronica unhelpfully pointed out.

"Well, lets not get crazy, I'm taking a six month dating break, I'm not going to promise any more than that right now. We'll reevaluate after that." Lilly said, six months already sound like a long time to her.

"That's a smart choice." Veronica conceded.

"I'll put a real effort into putting the past in the past and create a future for myself that I almost didn't get. If Aaron would've hit me a little bit harder, it wouldn't have been a coma. It would've been a death and I wouldn't have this chance." It was morbid, she knew that, focusing on the fact that she'd lucked out and very likely could've died if her parents had been too late getting home. Or if Aaron had hit harder. Or if she'd hit the pavement harder when she'd gone down. Or if her parents had decided, after so many years, to pull the plug. She knew it was morbid, but the thoughts were still there.

"Lilly, lets not even think about if he would have killed you. It was enough of a struggle with you in a coma." Veronica's voice was tense and Lilly understood why. She most likely had thought about all these things over the years and didn't want to bring them up again.

"Okay, so six months from now, in April, we'll take stock and see if I've completed my mission." She changed the subject back as she followed Veronica out the front door.

"You already have made quite a change." Veronica pointed out, pausing at the bottom of the porch steps to stare up at her, shielding her eyes with her right hand and squinting.

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked, confused. She hadn't done anything but try and manipulate her friends since she came back into their lives. Manipulate her friends and their new friends, and on top of that she had been quite rude to both Piz and Parker out of some misguided loyalty to Veronica. It didn't really make sense since Veronica had apparently forgiven Parker for dating Logan and didn't seem to be, or ever have been, upset over her break up with Piz.

"This is a new kind of determination for Lilly Kane, the most determined girl in the world." Veronica said, grinning up at her.

Lilly hopped down the stairs enthusiastically, grinning at her best friend. She looped her arm around Veronica's waist when she reached her side and the two of them walked to the car. They found Logan shoving the last bag into the back of the car, staring into the back like he was considering if it was the right configuration of suitcases. He shook his head once and slammed the back of the car and turned to them, looking a little startled to find witnesses to his odd behavior.

"So, you want to pick the music?" Veronica asked, struggling not to laugh. "I'm loaning my iPod to Lilly for her drive home with Mac and Dick, so you'll have to use yours."

"Didn't bring it. Looks like _you're _stuck with my old cds." Logan told her.

"No, I'll be too busy driving. You're playing DJ on this trip."

It was the same argument that had gone on in front of the Grand a few days ago. Who was going to drive and who was going to play DJ. The same argument since Logan had gotten his Xterra but had yet to get his license and Veronica kept insisting that she would be a better driver, even though she didn't have her license yet either. _Some things just never change_, Lilly thought to herself, grinning.

"My car. I'm driving" Logan insisted.

"C'mon, you drive like an old woman." Veronica accused.

"I think my driving record speaks for itself. I don't drive like an old woman, I just don't drive like I'm talking somebody. Or like I'm involved in some sort of one car high speed chase." Logan spat back, narrowing his eyes a little. " All. The. Time."

"You drive like my grandma, Logan." Veronica challenged, causing Lilly to snort with laughter.

"I've met your grandma. In fact, I was in the car with her, and you and Lilly, when your dad - her _son_ - pulled her over and gave her a speeding ticket." Logan shot back, looking quite pleased with his comeback and Veronica dramatically rolled her eyes.

"You're right…" Veronica admitted. Logan's jaw dropped and his eyes got large for a moment before a grin started to form and he looked to be on the verge of a happy dance. But Veronica continued before he could say a word, or move a muscle. "You drive like my _great_ grandma."

"Get in the car, shorty." Logan commanded, obviously finished with the argument. "You wouldn't be able to reach the peddles anyway."

Lilly stepped forward to Logan for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her squeezed and she did the same. Lilly squeezed back a little more than him, wrapping her arms as far around him as she could until she reached his butt. Slowly, carefully, she slid the car keys out of his back pocket, trying desperately not to let them jingle. Praying that he couldn't feel the sliding motion, and that if he did he didn't think she was groping him. Logan leaned back to look into her face at the same time that Lilly did, smiling.

"See you in a few days, Lilly." He told her, giving her a grin before releasing her completely and taking a step or two back and allowing Veronica her turn at a hug.

Veronica takes a couple steps toward Lilly before she tosses the keys at her completely prepared for it best friend. She catches them easily in one hand, still walking towards Lilly for a hug.

"Very funny." Logan comments, his tone making it obvious that he's not amused, holding out his hand to Veronica for the keys. She just passes him and continues towards Lilly, throwing her arms around her when she finally reaches her.

Refusing to admit defeat Logan back steps while Veronica is distracted, before turning and opening the drivers side door. He slides in and shuts the door, sitting there and glaring straight ahead. He refuses to look at either of the girls, but waits in the silent car for Veronica.

"I'll call you when we get back in town. We'll go out for dinner, just you and me and Italian cuisine." Veronica whispers as they stare at Logan glaring out the windshield. She shakes here head and separates herself from Lilly.

"It's a plan, Stan." Lilly agreed, continuing to watch as Veronica walks away and around to the other side of the black Range Rover. There's a moment when she's out of Lilly's sight, but she's there again at the front passenger window, and then in the car next to her boyfriend.

There's a bit of an argument, Lilly can see that, as she Logan shakes his head repeatedly and she can lip read enough to see the word 'no'. Veronica's head tilts a little, then there's a little twirl of her head before she leans forward to lay her head on his shoulder. It doesn't seem to be working though, since he refuses to look at her and the only response Lilly can see is his head continuing to shake and mouth forming the words 'no' and 'way'.

Finally there's a flash when the sun catches the shine of the keys as Veronica passes them back over to Logan, and a moment later the car starts. It's a second before the car lurches forward and they're off, down the drive way. It's only moments before the disappear into the trees and are gone, leaving Lilly alone, standing in the gravel of the front drive.

She stands there a moment longer, thinking about her decisions and the fact that she was going to have to avoid Eli. Avoid him like the plague if she had any hopes of getting over him, not like they'd gotten particularly close on this trip. All they'd done so far is fight and argue.

Sighing, Lilly turns and walks into the house. _Might as well go up and pack._

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so there's the Lilly chapter. Lots of stuff getting talked over with the Kanes in the last two chapters. There's 4 single view chapters left (Veronica, Dick, Piz & Weevil... not necessarily in that order tho) and I'm hoping that the next one will be a little more funny than the drama/dialog stuff in the Duncan and Lilly chapters. Although, Lilly did loosen up a bit with V and Logan. Any guesses on who gets the next chapter? I'm writing it as I'm posting, but it may take a few extra days to get posted.


	36. 33 Piz

**Title:** The Return 33-Piz [The Hangover]  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Word Count:** 2,151  
**Characters/Pairings:** Piz, Wallace, Parker, Dick, Duncan, Lilly the second, _(mentions: Lilly the first, Mac and Weevil)  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, nothing. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been way different._

* * *

**The Return**

**33**

**Piz**

~The Hangover~

He was pretty sure that the world was spinning out of control. Their entire world was spinning out of control until it would just collapse and come crashing down all around him. That was what was going on because every time he opened his eyes the ceiling spun one way and his bed spun another way and he felt like he did when he was a kid and he'd spin and spin and spin in circles and then try to walk. Like when he'd get on the spinning wheel at the park and he'd sit down and his cousin with run as fast as he could in a circle, spinning the flat metal disc until Piz had been forced to the edge and was hanging on for dear life, it'd slow down and he'd take two steps before collapsing into the grass and trying not to puke. Maybe that's what was going on and he was still on that spinning wheel disc thing at the park in Beaverton and his cousin Bradley was running in circles and he was holding on for dear life.

Piz cracked his eyes open a little and saw the ceiling again and it spun but if he were at the park it'd be the sky, not some off white textured surface with the brightest light known to man on it. _Why was that on?_

"Uhhhhnggg…." Piz groaned out unintelligibly. Hopefully whoever was moving around the room would be able to interpret that as '_Turn off the damn light and be silent_'.

"Hey man, I'm going out for a run. You wanna come?" Came Wallace's surprising and annoyingly chipper voice from somewhere out in the ether of this carnival funhouse room that spun and spun and…

"Uhhhhhhh bbuuuuhhh…." Piz replied. Translation: '_No I don't want to go for a run because I'm dying and what the hell are you doing up and who goes for a run at the butt crack of dawn when people are dying?_'

"Ooookay…" Wallace responded cautiously. Piz heard a shuffling and then his roommate's face popped into view. "You sure? Need anything? Water? Asprin?"

"Guuuuhhh brubuh" Piz told him, '_Asprin, Water and a bucket. If you could call a priest to administer last rights as well, that'd be swell. I am 100% sure that I'm not going to go on some crazy run, but when you get back if you could just shoot me that'd be great. Swell. In fact I'd forever count you as a friend for it._'

"Later man." Wallace said as he basically bounced out of the room. Obviously he was making as much noise as he possible could, but the light went off and Piz head stopped exploding but the spinning never stopped.

* * *

"Man, are you ever going to get up?" Wallace asked, flipping the light on.

"I'm obviously dying here, so… no, I will not ever be getting up, but if you could shut the light off and go away and let me die in peace I'd be grateful." Piz answered, his head exploding again, but at least the spinning seemed to have stopped a while ago.

"I don't think you're dying, you just need something to drink and some aspirin and you'll be good to go." Wallace explained, apparently refusing to turn off the light and let him die.

Piz sat up miserably, ready to slay Wallace with his wit and scare him out of the room once and for all. He didn't really have any experience doing this but he'd seen Logan and Veronica do many times before. He opened his mouth to comment but that was a mistake because in the next moment he was scrambling out of bed, pushing past an amused looking Wallace and into the bathroom where he threw up everything that he had ever eaten… ever.

"I guess you changed your mind about getting up." Wallace said from the doorway and Piz could hear the laughter in it.

"Uggghhhh…" Piz groaned as he crawled out of the bathroom, past Wallace and back to his bed where he pulled himself up and then curled into the fetal position. He winced as he heard his friend go into the bathroom and shut the door, a minute later he heard the shower start.

* * *

Piz sat at the kitchen table in sweats and some old t-shirt with a pirate on it that Wallace lent him when he realized that all of the t-shirts that he'd brought were either dirty or smelled like his laundry detergent which seemed to cause him to vomit whenever he caught a whiff of it. Wallace's mom used unscented soap so _his_ clothes were blissfully scent free.

Parker milled about the kitchen, reheating oatmeal and sausage that she'd saved for him. She insisted that it would be easy on his stomach, help settle said stomach and reduce risk of regurgitation. She funneled water into him, making him drink two glasses of room temperature water as he groaned in pain. That's when she handed him two ibuprofen and a glass of fizzy water.

"It's Emergen-C, I used to drink it in high school after weekend parties and stuff. It's the best hangover cure." She explained, much too chipper about it, as she pushed the glass across the table at him. He sat there for another moment, seeing her expectant look before he took the glass and downed it.

"I don't feel any better." He told her, somewhat petulantly.

"It takes longer that twenty seconds to work." Parker replied indulgently, like she was talking to a child, before turning to a beeping microwave and sliding his breakfast out and back in front of him. "Now eat up, getting something else in your system will help you feel better, too."

* * *

"I'll give you a billion dollars if we can stay another night and I get passed this stupid hangover." Piz begged Wallace as he watched him pack all his stuff back into his duffel bag.

"I don't believe you really have a billion dollars to give me, so you better start packing." Wallace told him.

Piz dragged himself off his bed and went to the closet to get his own bag. It seemed to have exploded that morning in his search of something comfy to wear while he went to die in the kitchen. When he hadn't died there he'd tried to do so in the living room and when that had failed he'd come back upstairs to make another go at it.

"Come on, you'll be fine." Wallace assured him, zipping his bag closed and tossing it toward the door. Ever the basketball superstar his bag landed perfectly in front of the door, waiting to be taken downstairs. Wallace began stripping his bed, going through the blankets carefully to make sure that he hadn't missed anything.

"No, I'm pretty sure this is what dying feels like." Piz complained as he began shoving his clothes into his bag, mixing the dirty with the clean and not caring that nothing was folded and everything was wrinkling.

"You're not dying." Wallace told him as he walked toward the door. "Make sure you go through you're bedding and make sure you don't leave anything behind… even the socks that always seem to accumulate underneath your bed, the way they do at the dorm. I have to go make sure Weevil's stuff is all packed." With that Wallace walked out the bedroom and left Piz to silently die in the closet, holding his breath while he shoved detergenty smelling clothes into his bag.

* * *

"I call shotgun!" Parker yells, practically screaming, as she walks toward the Wallace's car, her right arm thrown into the air enthusiastically. Baby Lilly is cuddled in Parker's arms.

"Shawguhn!" Baby Lilly yells, her little arm pumping the same way Parker's had. Duncan is laughing and following the two out to the car, carrying Parker's bags for her.

"Whatever, you can have shotgun the entire time… I'm going to lay down in the backseat and die." Piz grumbles as he shuffles out to the car as well, dragging his duffel bag behind him.

"We'll hit the road soon, dude. Mac is trying to get a hold of Weevil and find out where he is." Piz could hear Dick telling Wallace as they trailed behind him.

"Okay, I made sure all of Weevil's stuff was packed up, although it didn't look like he ever really took anything out of that bag of his." Wallace said as he passed Piz and hurried to the trunk of his car so Duncan put Parker's bags in.

"You okay man?" Dick asked, suddenly appearing beside him with an uncharacteristic look of concern.

"Yeah, just dying a little but Wallace and Parker assure me that I'll be fine." Piz told him and had to suffer through Dick's loud and boisterous laugh.

"You don't really drink much, do you?" Dick asked, grinning.

"Not really. I wasn't much of a partier in high school and I didn't have much opportunity to do so last year." Piz explained.

"Well, it takes practice to be able to work through a hangover. You should have some beer this morning." Dick suggested as they neared the car. Piz took the moment to look at the blond boy as if he were crazy.

"I want to get rid of the hangover, Dick, not be in a perpetual state of drunk."

"It doesn't get you drunk, it just helps a bit. Hair of the dog and all that." Dick told him as he stopped alongside the small group that had gathered around the back of Wallace's car.

"It's true, hair of the dog is one of the best hangover cures if you do it right when you get up. At this point it'll probably just make you feel sicker, though." Duncan told him before turning to Wallace to shake his hand.

Piz nodded and pitched his duffel bag into the trunk, landing it on top of Wallace's duffel and all of Parker's girly luggage. He shook Duncan and Dick's hands and accepted a hug from Baby Lilly while Parker and Duncan hugged goodbye.

He slid into the backseat of the car and laid down, covering his eyes with his arm as he waited for the other two passengers to get in the car. It seemed like forever before he heard Parker slide into the front passenger seat and Wallace stood with the driver's door open as he talked with Dick about routes and whether or not they should all meet for dinner when they got into Neptune. Apparently they'd be meeting up at someplace called Chow's Pizza at eight tonight, which should give Wallace and his team plenty of time to get into town but Dick and his team might be a little late if they can't get a hold of Weevil.

Finally Wallace slid into his seat and started the car. Music blared from the speakers and Piz felt himself slowly dying from the pain it caused his head. "Off! Turn it off!" he yelled even as Parker reached out and turned the music down so low he could barely hear it from the backseat.

* * *

It was only a few miles, a few minutes. They probably weren't even as far as town yet before Parker suddenly yelled out, "Wait, Weevil is riding with Mac and Dick?"

"Yeah, that's why they haven't left yet, they're waiting to get in touch with him so they can pick him up from that girl's house." Wallace told her.

"But isn't Lilly riding back with them too?" Parker asked, concern seeping into her voice.

"Yeah…" Wallace hedged, obviously not liking where this was going.

"Aren't they fighting or something?" Piz croaked from the backseat, already seeing what a huge mistake it would be for them to ride home together, probably both stuck in the backseat of Mac's VW Bug, which was tiny.

"Well, that's Mac's problem now." Wallace replied distractedly as he made a turn.

"Wallace…" Parker said in a warning voice.

"We've been on the road for over an hour, I'm not driving back when they're probably gone by now." Wallace groused.

"They might not be, Lilly wasn't even packed when we left." Parker said, rummaging through her purse. "I'm going to call."

It was a few minutes later and Parker hung up with Mac.

"Mac says that they're on the road already with Lilly and Weevil in the backseat." Parker announced.

"Told you." Wallace said, making another turn.

"Yeah, she also said to keep our phones on because there might be a need for a switch at some point if things keep going the way they're going." She finished before leaning forward to turn the music up a little.

"Perfect." Wallace complained, shaking his head. "If that happens you're switching with Lilly, okay?"

"Okay." Parker agreed before leaning her head back against the head rest.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so it's been a while. A year. I had a hard time writing the Piz chapter but that turned into something else and then I got wrapped up in the drama of real life which was exceptionally soap opera like last year (and the first couple months of this year) with a teen pregnancy that turned out to be twins and then a whole adoption thing... it was insane. Plus I'm working off my old desk top until I can get a new laptop in a few weeks so I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and write anything. I have this horrible writers block going with my novel and I thought that the best way to get passed that might be to get passed what was keeping me from finishing this story. So I'm passed it and I have all the chapters finished now, because I wasn't going to post anything until it was _all_ done. So don't worry, there won't be another year long break... Anyway, I'll be posting a chapter a week because there's still some stuff I have to fix with the last two chapters, they're written but something about them just doesn't read the way I want them to. So here it is, the chapter that gave me a year's worth of trouble... that's if anyone is actually still reading this because it's been going on for about four years now...


	37. 34 Weevil

******Title:** The Return 34-Weevil [The Redhead]**  
****Rating:** R (mentions of sex, swearing and the like)**  
****Word Count:** 2,212  
**Characters/Pairings:** Weevil, Mac, Lilly the first, Dick, OFC _(mentions: Logan, Veronica, Parker, Piz and Wallace)_**_  
_****Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.**  
****Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, nothing. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been way different.

* * *

**The Return**

**34**

**Weevil**

~The Redhead~

He was cold, his head hurt and his back stung. He didn't know where he was, couldn't remember how they got here all that clearly, just that the redhead had drove them here and this was her apartment.

He was laying on his stomach, naked except for a sheet covering his ass and the redheads arm flung across his back. His left arm was curled underneath the pillow his head was on and his right arm was going numb from the fact that it lay straight out across the mattress and a mop of red hair rested on his shoulder. If he glanced down he could see the long fake claws tipping her fingers, which is probably why his back stung. In his experience not many girls actually put effort into the whole back scratching bit, but with the talons on this one he couldn't really blame her.

Weevil tried slide off the bed away from her, trying not to disturb her sleep in the process. He didn't remember too much about her from the night before, other than the fact that she talked incessantly and seemed to want to know an awful lot about him, his friends and where they were all from. One thing he didn't remember is her name. It was probably something like Amber or Tiffany or Crystal or something. He didn't really care, he wouldn't be seeing her again and – if he could just get away – he wouldn't be speaking to her again either.

"Where are you going?" Red asked, her voice having that breathiness girls gave it when they wanted to sound sexy and the rough quality all voices had when they hadn't been used all night long.

"Away," he told her, not bothering to sugarcoat his response. She had to know that this was a one night thing, right? After all he had to have said he was vacationing with friends about fifteen different times last night, she couldn't possibly think that this was anything more that a one night thing. Unless… unless she had some illusion about tagging along on the trip home, getting out of her small town and going to the big city with him. _What the hell?_

"Don't leave yet, we can still have a little fun first." She purred, those damn nails running over his back and making the scratches sting again.

"I don't have time," He said, but already felt himself letting her pull him back into the bed. She was climbing on top of him, straddling him, and the guilt pooling in his stomach. He didn't have anything to feel guilty about, he didn't have a girlfriend, there was no one he was betraying by falling in bed with some nameless girl. But the guilt was there anyway, and spurred him on.

* * *

It was noon, maybe one, and his cell phone was ringing somewhere in the room. On the floor, maybe? Weevil slid out of bed, this time able to get out before Red woke up and tried to pull him back in. Not on the floor. On the dresser? Where exactly are his pants?

Weevil was following the trail of clothes out of the bedroom and through the living room of the small apartment when he heard the shuffling behind him. The phone stopped ringing and now he'd never find it. Or his pants.

"I thought maybe I'd make us some lunch." Red suggested, coming up behind him to run her hand over his bald head as she passed him on her way to the kitchen. She had his t-shirt on and a little pair of underwear. Usually he found it sexy as hell when girls wore his clothes, but it seemed that this instance was more to keep him hostage than turn him on.

"Okay, sure, but then I have to get going." He relented, but pulled on his boxers before he followed her into the kitchen.

It turned out that her idea of making him lunch was making a couple of turkey sandwiches and heating up a can of Campbell's soup. He was done in fifteen minutes, even though it felt like a damn hour.

"I thought maybe we'd hang out today? I mean, there isn't a lot to do here in town but there's a matinee showing down at the Plaza theater. I'm not sure what's playing but I doubt we'll see much of it anyway, if you know what I mean." She chatted as she picked at her own sandwich.

"I'm kind of here with friends, you know. I think there's a plan for the day." He said, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to get his shirt back without her thinking it was some sort of come on.

"Oh, sure. We can go hang with your friends, if you want." She stood from the table and made it half way to the door before she whipped off his shirt and tossed it at him. "I'll go get dressed."

"Uh… yeah, sure, um… where are my pants?" Best thing to do was get all his crap before he broke it to her that she wasn't invited for a group hangout. Even if he'd liked her she wouldn't be invited. He'd seen the annoyance on V's face last night, and the rest of the group didn't seem too thrilled to be forced to hang out with her for a couple of hours last night. He was damn sure that making a day of it would get him booted out of the club house and have him hitching back to Neptune.

"Oh, well, they're in the dryer. Remember? You spilled, like, a gallon of beer on them last night before we came back here? I stuck them in there early this morning so at least they'd be dry before we went back to your place so you could change." Her voice was fading a bit as she walked back to her bedroom and he went in search of the dryer. It was next to the washer in a small room off the kitchen. His cell phone lay on top of it, along with three dimes, a nickel, two sticks of gum, his pocket knife and a condom.

"What do you think the plan is for the day? I bet that friend of your has one of those nice cabin looking places right outside of town, near the lake? I've always wanted to see one of them up close but they all have these security systems or something around them that lets them know when there are trespassers on the property." Her voice was getting closer again, and Weevil hurriedly pulled on his jeans. They wreaked of beer and cigarettes, but they'd do until he got back to the house and he could change into something cleaner… and cleaner smelling. He picked his phone. Twelve missed calls. Four from Veronica, six from Mac, one from the house phone and one from Logan. Seriously?

"Yeah, it's one of those big ones." He mumbled as he dialed Mac, who had been the last call that woke him up.

"You know, I hear that the Echolls have a place up there. Can you imagine? Movie stars! Do think your friend knows–" Red started but Weevil slid the door shut on her as he waited for Mac to pick up the phone.

"Finally learn how to pick up a phone?" Mac's wry voice came over the line.

"I'm being held hostage. She just released my clothes but now she thinks that we're going to hang out together with all my friends. Hey, did you know that the Echolls family has a house up here and they're movie stars, can you imagine? Please, God, come and get me." Weevil told her, looking for an exit in the small windowless room that held the washer, dryer and a year's supply of Ramen noodles and Kraft Mac-n-Cheese.

"What? Your booty buddy not living up to the low, low standards required of her?" Mac asked and he could hear the laughter in her voice.

"No, she's not. I think she's trying to upgrade herself and could you just get here girl genius?" He was losing patience now. Mac was teasing him and Red was whining on the other side of the door.

"Okay, where are you?" Mac asked.

"I don't know." He replied, his annoyance and exasperation seeping into his voice.

"Well, we can't come get you if we don't know where you are and I don't have my equipment here to trace your call so you're just going to have to ask Jessie." Mac's voice was getting annoyed too, which was something because in all the time he'd spent around Veronica and her sidekicks, Mac was the one that didn't annoy easily.

"Who's Jessie?" Weevil asked, only half kidding.

"The girl you've probably been calling the wrong name for the last fifteen hours." Mac told him. "Call me when you know where you are, we'll head into town." And then she hung up and he was alone with Red again.

"Hey Red, where are we exactly?" He asked as he opened the door. She stood there in just the skimpy pair of panties she'd had on under his shirt and a lacy bra that left nothing to the imagination.

"My apartment, just off Brooks… why?" Her eyes narrowed now in suspicion.

"My friend Mac is on the way and she needs to know the address."

"Oh, well I could've driven us out there but if she's already in town… I'll hurry up." She turned and started off down the hall.

"She's on her way in and she's just getting me, you're not invited." Weevil told her as headed for the front door.

"So, basically, you were just going to sleep with me and skip out? Is that what you were trying to do earlier? The nail and bail?" Her voice was inching higher, getting louder.

"Pretty much, yeah. That was the plan." He smirked and turned to head to the front door, snagging his sneakers as he went.

"You… You… ASSHOLE!" She shrieked and he slipped out her front door as she flung a water glass at him. The door shut just as it crashed against the heavy metal.

* * *

He found his way back to the bar before long, dialing up Mac.

"Hey, so I ditched Red. Pick me up at the bar?"

"I guess. By the way, we're leaving." Mac told him, her voice mildly distracted as he heard the music change in the background.

"Oh, well, maybe I'll have a beer while I wait. How long do you think it'll take for you to get into town?" He asked, pulling open the door to the bar and stepping from the bright afternoon in to the darkness of the bar.

"No, we're just pulling into town now, so we'll be at the bar in about five minutes. No time for a beer but you might want to pick up a bag of chips and a soda because we're heading back to Neptune from there." Mac explained.

"Did you grab my stuff?" Weevil turned and left the building again, just in time to watch a small lime green VW Bug pull up.

"Yeah, I got your stuff." Mac said as she slid out of the passenger seat and stepped aside for him to get in.

"Thanks," he mumbled as he started to slide into the back seat. He glanced at the other backseat passenger and froze. A sullen Lilly sat, scrunched up as far into the left corner of the backseat, looking as if she was trying to get as far away from the cold breeze of an open door. That's what it would look like to anyone else but him.

"Good night?" She asked snottily before inserting the earbuds to her iPod back into her ears.

"Oh. _Hell_. No!" Weevil complained as he pulled back out of the car and looked Mac straight in the face. "Shouldn't she be riding with V and Echolls?"

"Well, they left earlier today and t Wallace, Parker and Piz took off about 30 minutes ago too. _We_, however, had to stick around for Lilly to finish packing and for you to finally pick up your phone." Mac's arms were crossed in front of her and she had, what he could only describe as, a pissed off mom look on her face. She'd probably had this exact argument with Lilly for the last 30 minutes once she learned that she'd be stuck in a backseat with him for six hours. "Now get in or you'll have to find your own way home."

"Maybe his new – what'd you call her Mac? – _booty buddy_ will drive him home." Lilly sneered at him. Weevil rolled his eyes as he slid into his seat and pressed himself up against the passenger side wall.

"This is going to be the _funnest_ ride _ever_!" Mac exclaimed with faux enthusiasm as she climbed into her own seat and slammed her door shut. Weevil watched Dick smirk from the review mirror as he put the car in drive and they took off down the main drag toward the highway and out of town.

* * *

**A/N:** I know it's not a long one, but don't worry, the next one will be up next week. I hope that it all reads like they're the same characters I started writing four years ago. I had to go back and re-read everything to really be able to get into writing the story again.

**Also, there's only two people left with solo chapters (Dick and Veronica) any guesses as to who is next?**


	38. 35 Dick

******Title:** The Return 35-Dick [The Nightmare]**  
****Rating:** PG-13  
**Word Count:** 2,782  
**Characters/Pairings:** Dick, Mac, Lilly I, Weevil, Parker, Piz, Duncan and Wallace _(mentions of: Logan, Veronica, OFC and Lilly II)_  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**35**

**Dick**

~The Nightmare~

"Are you okay?" Dick asked as Mac entered the bedroom and started packing up her bags.

"Yeah, why?" She responded with a smile, and the knot in his stomach seemed to ease a bit.

"You just seemed so nervous this morning, I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Get everything worked out with Veronica?" He didn't want her to feel like he was pressuring her in any way, but he had to know if they were okay. He _had_ to know.

"I'm fine, just a little freak out that's all. No big." She smiled up at him, relaxed and happy in the moment. He hated to ruin it.

"Over the fact that we finally slept together or because I said that I love you?" And the knot was back, full force now, as he watched her freeze. Her hands caught in mid air as she was folding one of her tops at the time. It was just a small moment, one frozen moment where he saw the thoughts whirl in her head and she came to a conclusion, a course of action and continued with her task.

"I just… I mean, I assumed that since it was during that it was a, you know, momentary I-love-you-for-having-sex-with-me kind of thing." Now her eyes were averted and she wasn't looking at him and the knot was starting to ice up and make his entire body feel cold.

"I do kind of love that you're having sex with me now, but it's not something I normally tell people. Especially the people that I have sex with." He explained, sitting down on the bed and looking at his hands. He didn't want to watch the next decision she came to.

"So it was more of a…" she hesitated and he felt the bed dip beside him as she sat. "How you feel kind of thing then?"

She was giving him an out, that much he could tell, but what he couldn't tell was why. Because she didn't feel the same? Or because she didn't really think that he was in love with her?

"How I'm feeling. Kind of how I've been feeling for a while now. I don't want you to freak out, or think that you have say it back. I just want you know that that's how I'm feeling and it's kind of a first for me so if you could be, you know, gentle with, you know, my feeling I'd appreciate it." _Wow, he sounded like an idiot_.

"Your feeling? You've only got the one?" She was laughing now, which was a whole lot better than the soft and quiet acceptance that read more like she was going to flee than she felt comfortable and at ease with the topic at hand.

"Well, just the one particular feeling that I was hoping you'd be gentle with." He smiled as he watched her hand reach out and her fingers intertwine with his.

"I think I'll be gentle with all your feelings any way, just in case." She whispered as she leaned forward to kiss him. His free hand went up to hold her face as they lay back on the bed.

* * *

Mac was dressed again, but he was taking his time with it. He didn't really see the big hurry in getting dressed again after that. She had to repack her suitcase since it had gotten dumped off the bed a few minutes in. She had this quick and efficient way of packing, her hands moving quickly as she folded and tucked each item into the bag, making sure it all fit perfectly. Like she was playing a real life game of Tetris.

"You're cute when you pack." He told her, dragging his jeans up and buttoning them as he leaned down to kiss the lovely patch of skin exposed by the open collar of her top, where her shoulder met her neck.

"I bet you would be too, if only I could see you do it." She commented, but he'd heard the sigh she'd let slip out when his lips had touched her skin.

"Already done, my bag is downstairs sitting by the front door. Wallace is going to take it since your car doesn't hold all that much." He wrapped his arms around her waist and continued to kiss the back of her neck as she tried to ignore him and continue her own packing.

"And by pack you mean…"

"Shoved as much as humanly possible into my bag as quickly as I could before I zipped it up and threw it down two flights of stairs? Yeah, that basically it." He gave her neck one last, loud smacking kiss before releasing her and slipping back into his t-shirt. "I'm going to go down and check who's riding with who. I'll be back to get your bags in a couple minutes, kay?"

"Okay." She leaned up for one last kiss as he passed her on his way to the door. Suddenly he understood what the big draw of these huge and intense relationships were. Why Logan never seemed to mind that he was whipped. Why, no matter what she did to him, Logan was always so willing to make another go of it with Ronnie.

The casualness of just being with her in a room, even if she's just packing. The ease of it, the just being able to know that he could call her up and she'd generally be happy just to hear from him. The fact that he genuinely got excited just at hearing her voice, or listening to her laugh. The fact that the sleeping with her part was just a perk and not the entire point of the relationship, that even that was more intense than it had ever been. Maybe Logan and Duncan and all those other whipped guys in relationships were really on to something. It had taken way too long to figure this out. Way too many years kowtowing to Madison and not enough time looking for one that was actually nice to him, that wanted him around.

"Hey Wallace, you still gonna take my bag with you in your car?" Dick called out to Wallace as he and Piz headed out the front door.

"Sure, man. Load it up." Wallace grinned and Dick watched Piz wince at the volume.

Dick fell into step beside Wallace before he continued talking. "Lilly heading out with you too?"

"No, she's not done packing yet. In fact, I don't even think she's started yet." Wallace complained. "Good luck getting her out sometime this century."

Dick laughed, it was probably the one thing about Lilly that would never change. Her inability to be on time for anything. In high school she had said it was just being fashionably late, but he was pretty sure it was because she didn't know how to tell time. He heard Parker yell shotgun and the Little Lilly echo her. "We'll hit the road soon, dude. Mac is trying to get a hold of Weevil and find out where he is."

"Okay, I made sure all of Weevil's stuff was packed up, although it didn't look like he ever really took anything out of that bag of his." Wallace said as he passing Piz so he could open the trunk for Duncan and Parker.

"You okay man?" Dick asked looking a Piz, who looked rather pale for someone that was currently living in California.

"Yeah, just dying a little but Wallace and Parker assure me that I'll be fine." Piz told him and Dick burst in a laugh. It'd been so long since a hangover actually affect him… or any of his friends.

"You don't really drink much, do you?" Dick asked, grinning.

"Not really. I wasn't much of a partier in high school and I didn't have much opportunity to do so last year." Piz explained.

"Well, it takes practice to be able to work through a hangover. You should have some beer this morning." Dick suggested as they neared the car and Piz pulled a face.

"I want to get rid of the hangover, Dick, not be in a perpetual state of drunk."

"It doesn't get you drunk, it just helps a bit. Hair of the dog and all that." Dick told him as he stopped alongside the small group that had gathered around the back of Wallace's car.

"It's true, hair of the dog is one of the best hangover cures if you do it right when you get up. At this point it'll probably just make you feel sicker, though." Duncan agreed.

Piz nodded and disappeared into the car.

"So we'll probably all be in town around six or seven tonight. How about we meet up for pizza around eight? We'll all switch bags and everything then." Dick suggested.

"You think you'll be in by then?" Wallace asked.

"Sure. Mac will finish packing and then go put a fire under Lilly's ass if she has to." Dick glanced into the car. Parker was setting herself up in the passenger seat, drinks in their holders and snacks within reaching distance. Piz was laying in the backseat, still looking pale and Dick was suddenly struck with the realization that when people say they look like death warmed up they're talking about looking the way Piz looked right now. That had to suck. "But we still have to find Paco so while we should be there by seven, we'll make it eight just in case."

"Okay, call if you're any later and I'll just drop the bag off at the Grande after we finish out pizza." Wallace agreed as he slid into the driver seat of his car and started it. Dick turned and jogged to catch up with Duncan and Little Lilly.

"So man, you think you can take some of your sister's luggage back with you on Wednesday? Because I saw how much crap she pulled out of Logan's car and that's not all going to fit in Mac's car."

* * *

"No way, they left without Lilly?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, she wasn't ready. Wallace said she hadn't even started packing yet but when I stopped by her room on my way up she was packing, looked to be about half way done. Duncan said he'd take some of her luggage with him since she brought so much and you have limited trunk space." Dick bit into the apple that he'd grabbed from the kitchen on his way up.

"You realize that that leaves us with Lilly and _Weevil_ in a tiny VW Bug? Right? Please tell me you've thought of a solution to that problem because I'm drawing a blank." Mac asked as she picked her phone up and dialed Weevil's cell phone again. "Damn, he's still not picking up and already one."

"I don't have a solution, but I'm sure they're not going to do anything in the car. They'll probably bitch a little and then quiet down and do whatever it is that people do on long car rides." Dick assured her.

* * *

"Could you just stay on your side? Seriously?" Lilly yelled from the backseat. Ten minutes. That's how long into the trip she resisted pitching a fit and she's been at it ever since.

"What is it that you said about them not doing anything? Bitch a little and be quiet?" Mac commented to him, her voice loud enough so he could hear her and low enough that the three year olds in the backseat couldn't.

"Well, I thought it'd be better than this. They've been at it for the past twenty minutes." Dick mumbled as he felt Lilly kick his seat for the one billionth time. "Could you stop that?"

"No, actually I can't because Weevil won't stay on his side and keeps _inching_ over to take up all my space!" Lilly shouted from the backseat and Dick could practically feel her heat vision boring into the back of his head.

"If you two don't–" Mac started, interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. He could hear Lilly huff and then felt as her knee pressed into his lower back. The seat did basically nothing to shield him from her knees and feet back there.

"Hello? Parker?" Mac answered and then waited a beat. "Yeah, they're both in her with us." Pause. "Yep, both in the backseat and let me tell you, they're just _so_ pleasant today." Mac was really good at sarcasm. "No, we've been on the road for about 30 minutes." Has it really only been 30 _minutes_? "Okay, but keep your phones on because if things keep up like this we may have to arrange some sort of switch."

"Mac, could you tell him to stay on his own side? Please because he's not and I can't get any further from the smell." Lilly whined from the backseat and Dick had a hard time not rolling his eyes at the comment.

"Well, I didn't get to shower and change and spend an hour making myself look as if I'm hitting road trip runway so you'll have to excuse the fact that I'm in day old clothes." Weevil's voice was low and starting to sound a little on the dangerous side.

"I'm not sure but I think, I _think_, even trashy townie girls have washers and showers… Mac, have you heard anything about that? Or is that just a rumor? I don't wouldn't know, I've been a little out of the loop lately." Mac was good at the sarcasm but apparently not as good as Lilly.

Mac heaved a big, exaggerated sigh and turned in her seat to answer… or to knock Lilly and Weevil's heads together in an attempt to shut them up. He'd never know because she never got the chance.

"You know I offered to change into clean clothes, but you threw a fit about stopping the car. I don't know what your problem is, you either hate it enough to let me change or you're fine with it and _shut up_!" Weevil turned to yell at Lilly and this time his knee actually did cross the imaginary line that she had drawn somewhere around mile marker twelve.

"See? He's on my freaking side. He's crowding me and I need some fresh air because he wreaks of stale beer and bimbo and I can't get it because he keeps getting closer and closer." Lilly practically shrieked from the backseat and Dick felt his shoulders inching up towards his ears, the tension building.

"Oh my god! What exactly is your problem? The stale beer or my supposed wreaking of _bimbo_? Or is it that you want me closer and don't know how to say it?" Weevil shouted back and Dick heard his seat belt release and watched in the review mirror as he slid across the four inches of backseat that separated them and put his face as close to Lilly's as he could without touching her. Lilly practically came off her seat in indignation.

"Get _away_ from me!" She yelled as she shoved him as hard as she could. Dick swerved slightly as her knees pushed into his back and Weevil was shoved not back into his own seat but between his and Mac's.

"Oh my god." Mac groaned as Lilly continued.

"Don't touch me!"

"I'm not touching you!"

"But you were, you're invading my personal space and you need to _stop_!"

"Actually if you both don't stop…" Dick trailed off as felt his reign over his temper straining to the point of breaking.

"I never freaking touched you Lilly and will you stop shouting in my _ear_!" Weevil yelled back as if Dick had never spoken. That was it. The last straw.

"I swear if I have to pull this car over you'll both be walking back home and you'll have all the space you want!" He yelled and this was a nightmare. He sounded like his parents… Strike that, he didn't sound like his parents because they'd never taken a road trip, they'd always gone in planes. He sounded like all those sitcom dads he'd watched while growing up, wondering why his dad wasn't like that. Now he knew why, because it was a freaking nightmare. But at least there was a moment of blessed silence from the backseat.

"Mac?"

"Yeah?" He could hear the barely restrained laughter in her voice.

"Call Parker, tell them we're going to have to meet up with them and switch because this can't be the next six hours of my life." She already had her phone out. Damn, he loved this girl.

* * *

**A/N:** Let me know what you all think


	39. 36 Veronica

**Title:** The Return 36-Veronica [The Room]  
**Rating:** R (hard R because of sexy situations but no actual sexin)  
**Word Count:** 4,677  
**Characters/Pairings:** Logan, Veronica  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

**A/N:** I'm giving this to you a few days early (and the last chapter was a couple days late), but I'll be moving this weekend and since it's an interstate move I don't know when I'll have time to get my computer set up to post until _next _weekend when chapter 37 will be posted. So enjoy and let me know what you all think...

* * *

**The Return**

**36**

**Veronica**

~The Room~

"Okay, so you make a left turn and then, in about a mile, you make a right into the driveway." Veronica read off the Google Map directions that Logan had printed off. They were oddly close to Neptune. Logan had chosen to do most of the driving today so that when they got up to head back home on Tuesday morning they wouldn't have too much further to travel and could take their time before afternoon classes. It was weird though, she'd never heard of this place before and she was practically required to know all the local hotel accommodations for her PI work. After all, knowing the potential locals of trysting couples made it about 90% easier to track them and get her money shot at a decent hour instead of scanning parking lots and activating cell phone GPS chips. "I've never heard of this place. How did you find out about it?"

"I don't think you really want to know." Logan replied, biting his lip in an attempt to resist smirking.

"Is it gross? Did you find this place because of some gross and creepy story of one of your buddies? Is this a typical location of where you take your conquests that you have, so far, resisted taking me?" Veronica's mind whirled in an attempt to search her memory data bank for any mention of the Little Bee Bed and Breakfast. Nope, nothing. In all twenty of her years living in Neptune, four of those spent camped out in front of hotels, motels and any other building with a bed for rent waiting to take her money shot and she'd never once heard mention of The Little Bee.

"I have to admit that I've never been here either… it'll be an adventure." Logan told her, practically shaking with glee. Her phone was buried in her bag somewhere in the back seat amidst half empty bags of Doritos and Cheesy Puffs, half eaten boxes of animal crackers, about twelve bags of uneaten freeze dried chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, a multitude of clear plastic baggies containing various sliced fruit and vegetables and six empty bottles of various liquids. Not to mention his coat, her coat, hoodie and shoes and the blanket she'd insisted on keeping back there just in case she got cold. There was no way she'd find her phone before they got there, no way she'd be able to do any research on this increasingly suspicious accommodation that Logan had booked for them. He was usually so adamantly against the cheap places that she'd trusted him not to find some skeazy motel, but now… now his amusement over their current destination made her nervous.

Sighing she settled back into her seat, but only for a moment before they made their left turn onto what looked like a long country road lined with tall coniferous trees of some sort, she couldn't get to her phone to figure out exactly what type of trees they were. The sign read 'Rubble Road'… she couldn't get to her phone to find out exactly why it was named that or exactly who lived in these houses that were set back into the trees, almost shielded from view of the road. Hmmm… There was a Michaelson at 2614 Rubble Road and a Jordan at 2615, they lived right across from each other and their houses were oddly similar to one another. _I wonder why that is? Same contractor? Same architect? Related?_

"What is wrong with you?" Logan asked, his glee now replaced by confusion as he glanced quickly from the road to her and back again.

"You need to pull over." Veronica demanded, her hands already going to release her seat belt.

"Why?" He was even more confused.

"I need my phone." Veronica told him, her mind going into overdrive with the possibilities.

"And why, exactly, do you need your phone right now?" Logan asked, not even slowing down, but his eyebrows pulled together as if he were running through possible reasons she'd have for making a phone call right at this moment.

"I need to look up Michaelson–" she threw up her right hand up, pointing at the house they had just passed on the right side with her thumb. "–and Jordan." She did the same, pointing to the house on the left this time.

"You mean Michael Jordan? He was a basketball player for the Chicago Bulls, had a brief stint in Major League Baseball and was in Looney Toons Space Jam. There, all done." Logan replied, looking at her as if… well as if she'd lost her mind.

"No, I know who Michael Jordan is, I want to look up Michael_son_ and Jordon. They live back there and their houses look almost the same. Their kind of big houses so I assume they have money and in my experience…" She trailed off as Logan started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You are incredibly nosey, you know that? You don't even know these people. Why do you care why their houses look the same? Why would anyone care about that?" Logan explained, barely able to contain his laughter long enough.

"I'm not nosey, I'm just… curious." Veronica slunk down in her seat a little, crossing her arms in front of her, feeling just a little bit ridiculous now. She didn't really care and she wasn't really curious about it, but it turned out that the when she didn't have the option to look it up it drove her nuts that she couldn't.

"That's not it. You're not curious, you just can't reach your phone and like all addicts when you're drug of choice is taken away you're cravings kick up a notch… or twelve." Logan's laughter had died down, but he continued to chuckle as he reached out and took her hand, bringing it up to his lips to give it several small kisses before letting their joined hands rest on the center console. "It's cute, baby, but I'm not stopping because all you really want to do is research where we're staying and it's a surprise."

"You know how much I _love_ those," she remarked sarcastically but not really feeling it. Logan's gesture of kissing her hand, and his display of how much he knows her, melted any annoyance she had felt and erased any pretense of curiosity she'd had.

"Just indulge me," Logan requested. "I know you hate surprises but I love giving them. We'll compromise here. I have never heard of this place either, not from past experience nor from any 'gross' stories from any of my 'buddies'. The Little Bee was, until this morning, a complete mystery to me as well."

"It's not a mystery anymore? You know more about it than just the location then?" Veronica asked, turning in her seat until she faced him completely, pulling her legs underneath her until they were bent at the knee, folded beneath her and her feet pressed up against the passenger side door.

"No, of course not. You think I'd bring you someplace without making sure it was absolutely the best?" Logan glanced back at her quizzically.

"I don't know, you won't let me research it." Veronica complained in faux exasperation, it turned out she didn't really feel all that upset. It was kind of sweet that Logan had put actual though and research into where he was taking her. Still, it'd be sweeter if he gave in and let her look it up herself.

"It'll be okay." Logan told her, giving her a quick peck before turning back to the road.

"Turn right." Veronica told him, studying his profile as he slowed his car and eased the wheel right, turning onto Bee Lane.

She studied him for just a moment more before turning her body around and sliding her legs out from underneath her so she could sit comfortably enough to try and see the bed and breakfast through the trees.

It was set further back from the road than all the other houses that lined it, making it almost impossible to see it until you got closer. It was a big Victorian mansion with a wrap around, screened in porch. There were three other vehicles parked in front, in the small gravel parking area off to the side of the front entrance. The black town car's license plate reads 'Bee 1', so it's probably the owner's but the other two are a mystery. She'll have to wait until they're settled into their room before she can run checks on the plates and see who they'll be sharing a breakfast table with in the morning. In truth though, it looks like the perfect place for them to spend the last two nights of this mini-vacation. Okay, Logan did a good job, she concedes before he pulls to a stop and cuts the engine.

Logan is out of the car and practically jogging around to her side before she can even unbuckle. She saw him trip as he went around the back of the Range Rover. _Always in a rush,_ she thought as she held back the giggle. Logan was rarely clumsy but when he was she found it incredibly endearing. He only seemed to get clumsy when he was especially excited about something. Like how the first time she slept with him he'd been so overwhelmed and excited that he'd stubbed his toes on the bed and hopped around in pain until he rammed his heel into his bedside and fell onto the mattress beside her, yelling about how the furniture was too close and the lighting was bad. It put such a kink in his 'smooth operator' persona, but it was probably one of her favorite things about him.

She was grinning when he opened the door and pulled her from her seat, spinning her around while her legs flew out behind her in the momentum of the circles he spun them in. His mouth was on hers and they both laughed at the silliness of it. It was the laughter of euphoria that only comes from a recently reunited couple, in the beginning stages of a relationship before it gets complicated and other factors start to filter in and affect them. Veronica was still giggling as he set her on her feet and took her hand again and kissed her fingertips before dropping it altogether and going to the rear hatch of the car to get their bags.

"No, we don't need all of them. I just backed the two back packs with what we'll need for the two nights. Then my make up back and computer case." Veronica pointed out the bags she'd made sure to pack separately before walking to the back passenger door and opening it. It was an even bigger mess than she'd originally thought. The chips had spilled all over the back seat and the animal crackers were all over the floor. Apparently one of the bottles of coke was quite empty when they'd thrown it in the back because the remainder had spilled down one of the seats and puddled on the floor where the bottle rested. Her purse, and all it's contents, was fortunately dry and buried beneath chips and bags of freeze dried ice cream, but had bright orange fingerprints on it from the last time she'd held it while munching on Cheesy Puffs.

"Well, I'm definitely going to need to get the car detailed." Logan commented, his voice right next to her left ear. She turned to smile at him, loaded down with two backpacks, her make up case and her laptop case that was loaded with cords and discs and research material and notes on both school work and cases alike. She smiled, pulled her purse out and headed up the front steps after him. If he wasn't worried about the mess there shouldn't be any reason she should worry about it. After all, she's not the one that had some weird pseudo love affair with her vehicles.

When she entered the house she found herself in a room overly stuffed with couches and throw pillows and mismatched chairs that, while they might look comfortable, were upholstered in obnoxious florals. The colors clashed with one another and the flowers from what thing to another changed and jarred the eyes. It seemed that whoever had designed it based on comfort instead of aesthetic. After all, nobody would do this on purpose. The lobby area seemed to flow into a living area where the motif changed from drugged out garden party to crazy African Safari on steroids. Without meaning to Veronica let out an almost involuntary "Oh my god."

"Don't worry, we won't be down here all that often." Logan assured her before turning back to the check in desk, giving her only a small glimpse of his grin. He was obviously enjoying this, the one time he was able to fully surprise her about something before she could do any amount of research on it. Before she could look up the business, it's owners and pull down all their financial records.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two people. A short, plump little man in khakis and an almost neon yellow button down shirt that made her want to slip her sunglasses back on. He was balding but she could see that the remainder of his hair was red, he wore glasses and one of the biggest grins she'd ever seen. The woman not only looked similar but wore an outfit almost to match the man's. Khaki pants and a yellow button down in just a slightly more muted shade of yellow. Her hair was also red but seemed to be a more mellow shade than his. And she was only slightly less plump than him. Her grin was exactly the same though. Almost maniacal and made Veronica want to ease backwards out the door, get in the Rover and wait for Logan to come to his senses.

"Hello! Welcome to the Little Bee!" The greeted in unison before laughing, big belly laughs that somehow put Veronica at ease enough to see Logan's shoulders shake slightly with his chuckle.

"How can we help you? I'm afraid that, without a reservation, we won't be able to accommodate you this evening. All booked." The woman continued, moving ahead of the man to give Logan her complete and undivided attention.

"Oh, I made a reservation with you this morning? Mr and Mrs Echolls." Logan told her, grinning as he heard Veronica gasp at his introduction. The man and woman's eyes seemed to swing to look at her, gauging her reaction. Logan was on top of it though, "It's new, she's not used to hearing it yet, are you sugarpuss?"

Veronica felt her own smirk slide into place at the nickname. He'd only called her that once before, when they had pretended to be an engaged couple while she was looking for his mother. "It's so new, I think it'll take a bit longer."

"Oh, well if you have a reservation… I guess that makes you honeymooners then, right? You know the Little Bee is where the honey is at this week. You got the last room, we have two other honeymooning couples and another one here on their anniversary." The woman informed them as she took Logan's card and ran it through the machine and slid it back along with the receipt and the key. Logan signed and picked up the key to their room, offering his hand to Veronica.

"Shall we sugarpuss?" Logan asked, his grin widening. She could see the strain in his neck from his barely repressed laughter and rolled her eyes as she took his offered hand and squeezed as hard as she could.

Logan pulled her up the stairs behind him and, as they went further and further from the proprietor's sight, his tether on his amusement seemed to loosen and she could see his shoulders begin to shake with silent laughter. His hold doesn't break though, he's still hanging by a thread by time they reach the top of the stairs and he glances down at their key and back up at one of the doors. Then he snorts with laughter before tamping back down on it, drops her hand and puts his own over his mouth like he's physically holding the laughter in. She looks up at the door in which he was inserting the key. A plaque on the door read 'Ecstasy' in a scrolling script. A quick look around the floor and she found a door that read 'Bliss', on that read 'Heaven' and another door further down the hall that she couldn't quite make out but she was sure that it read either 'Paradise' or 'Pleasure'. She didn't really care to know which.

The door slid open and Logan stepped in, no longer able to contain his laughter he pulled her in behind him and slammed the door shut before bursting out into near hysterical laughter. She looked at him as if he had grown an extra head before she looked up to take stock of the room… and her mouth dropped open in shock.

There isn't anything in the room that isn't in some shade of pink. Even the carpet is a pale pink that could be mistaken for white at first glance… if one were colorblind. A dark pink, heart shaped Jacuzzi tub is sunk into the floor in one corner of the room, surrounded by pink tinted mirrors. The bed is round and the comforter, duvet, bed spread… whatever they want to call it, it's done in red and pink velvet with concentric hearts done in alternating colors. A light lunch of sandwiches and salad has been placed on two bed trays on top of the bed and the small key to the mini bar is laying on the pink lacquered bedside table. The reflection of the meal – and bed – can be seen from three more angles as the wall of mirrors that extends from the left side of the bed around the back and then – to get that aerial view – wraps overhead, reflecting the bed from the ceiling. There's a control knob set into the headboard and she can just make out the words 'massaging vibrator' from this distance. On the dresser on the opposite wall there's a bucket with a bottle of cheap champagne chilling and two glass flutes waiting for them and a toast. There are red and pink candles scattered everywhere and a small book of matches in a heart shaped dish on the dresser as well.

Veronica sets her purse down and leaves Logan to his hysterical laughter by the door. She finds a door that leads to a bathroom with a sink, toilet and a rather large shower, which has handles inside for the lover's convenience. Thankfully the only mirror in here is the small one above the sink. She moves away from the doorway – Logan is still trying to contain his laughter – and heads for the bed. Closing her eyes she takes a deep breath and pulls back the comforter and blankets to find pale pink satin sheets.

"Oh my God… it's like actually being _inside_ a Valentine's Day card." She says, spurring Logan's laughter on, but he drops their bags by the door and comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, making her shake with his laughter. "How the hell did you find this place?"

"Google." Logan wheezes out, trying to catch his breath now.

"What'd you do? Look up cheesy bed and breakfasts in California?" She's only half serious as she turns in his arms to look at him.

"That's exactly what I did… I may have said cheesy and romantic but that's basically it. I thought it'd be funny." Logan says, taking a step into her, forcing her back against the bed. His knee comes up to rest on the bed where she had pulled back the covers and almost immediately slides right back off. Satin sheets. He cringes a little before becoming serious, "What does it matter what the décor is if we're together?"

"It doesn't, but seriously Logan." She reaches up and kisses him before turning and crawling onto the bed. Pulling her lunch toward her she grins up at him, "At least they're feeding us lunch, right?"

"Actually I asked if they could put a little something in here for us, said we'd need to eat something once we got here." He followed her onto the bed and picked up his sandwich from his own tray.

"Good idea," Veronica conceded as she settled back into Logan's arms. "But Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not allowed to pick the hotels anymore."

"Somehow I knew you'd say that."

* * *

"Dinner was great." Veronica murmured, pulling back from Logan just enough to disconnect their lips.

"Yeah great," Logan agreed, leaning forward after her, still trying to fit the key into the door.

"I especially loved the desert cart that you ordered…" Veronica said, leaning back further, giggling a little as he made a whine of protest.

"Dammit, stop doing that and come here." Logan demanded, the key finally finding the lock. He turned as his mouth finally found hers again and the door swung open and he fell into the open space. Veronica started to laugh when she was pulled through as well since his arm was still around her. Logan caught her before she stumbled too much, both arms wrapping around her now to steady her and pull her close.

Their clothes from earlier were still scattered around the floor, towels from their showers hanging from the bathroom door and an nearly empty champagne bottle sat next the bed. Veronica's laptop and research papers lay scattered on the floor from her earlier homework session before she'd abandoned it so she could get ready for dinner. The bed was torn apart from their nap and the fooling around they'd done before. It looked like they'd been there for days and she found it funny that when they left they'd be able to all their stuff because nearly everything they owned was black or green or some other color other than pink.

Veronica's attention was drawn back to her boyfriend as he tugged at the zipper to the dress she wore. A deep blue sundress with a halter top that tied behind her neck and a zipper that started mid back and went down to her lower back. Logan pulled down the zipper slowly, a tug followed by a sensual graze of his knuckles over her skin. As one hand worked at the zipper the other was sliding up the back of her neck and into her hair, tugging the ties to her halter loose as it went. She felt it slide down the length of her body and then she stood there in front of him in only a pair of black lacy boy shorts and black patent leather heels. He took a step back to admire her for a moment before stepping back to her, bending his knees and forcing her own legs further apart to accommodate him. His face lowered to her breasts and his mouth closed over one nipple as his hands slid down her back to grip her ass and pull her toward him as he lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his middle and her fingers speared into his hair as his hands run back up her back and cupped her shoulders, supporting her as she leaned back slightly to give him better access to her breasts.

Logan continued to tease her breasts, switching back and forth between her nipples, as he walked towards the bed. She felt his knees come into contact with the mattress and let her legs unwrap from his waist and lowered herself to the bed. She crawled, backwards across the bed and he followed after her, his mouth latching onto hers until she settled and laid back down. His mouth trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neck between her breasts and down her stomach. He'd just reached her belly button when a loud thumping and moaning started, muffled through the wall across from their bed. Logan's head popped up and his eyes locked onto hers.

"That'd be honeymooners number one." Veronica commented, reaching for him and pulling back up to her mouth. "Ignore it." She mumbled just before their mouths connected again.

After a few moments Logan began working his way back down her body, with renewed concentration as the moaning from the other room continued. Veronica's brow furrowed for a moment as she tried to concentrate on shutting them out, her eyes closed in concentration before she opened them and looked at herself in rose tinted glass. Naked from the waist up, Logan's dark head of hair slowly moving down her body, her own hands in his hair, on his shoulders. Her own breasts pointing back at her and shut her eyes again quickly, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the mirrored ceiling.

"Something funny?" Logan asked against the skin of her stomach.

"No, not at all–" Veronica's answered ended on a moan as Logan's hand pushed against the crotch of her panties. She bit her bottom lip, waiting for the moment when he'd slide them off and his mouth would settle over her and–

Logan's fingers had just slid the right side of her underwear down, his mouth closing over her hip when a second set of moaning and thumping started from the wall behind their own bed. Logan let the underwear slide back and to place and sat back on his haunches.

"Seriously?" Logan asked in exasperation, leaning his head back. When he caught sight of himself his brow furrowed. "That's kind of weird."

Veronica couldn't contain herself anymore and she started laughing hysterically. Logan looked down at her and cracked a smile.

"It's like surround sound porn… on tape." Veronica managed to get out before she began laughing again. Logan lay down beside her and pulled her body close to him. She turned into his body, flinging on leg over on of his, her foot tucking under the knee of his opposite leg. One slid between his shoulder and the mattress to dive into his hair and the other arm flung across his chest to pull him tighter against her. Her face hid in his chest as she continued to laugh at the ridiculousness of their situation. She pulls away for just a moment to catch a glimpse of them in the mirrored wall to the left of the bed. "Oh god, Logan." She squeals out before she starts laughing again.

Logan uses his free leg to snag the blankets and pull them part way up, until he can reach them with his hand. He tugs the blankets up and over their heads, covering them, hiding them from their own view in the mirrors.

"As long as we're together." Logan whispers, his voice full of it's own humor and just a small hint of defeat.

Veronica snorts a laugh at his joke snuggles a little closer under the blankets, leaning up to catch his lips in a kiss. The kiss intensifies and she starts to shift, ready to slide over him, straddle him when the two couples seem to reach a crescendo, yelling and moaning in tandem. The 'Oh Gods' coming from all directions as Logan and Veronica burst into laughter, the mood from earlier unable to be recovered.

"Oh well, maybe they'll sleep in and we can wake them up with loud and enthusiastic morning sex." Logan says, pecking her once on the lips as he pulls the covers off their head and lets her settle onto his shoulder for the night as the two couples finish and quiet down.

"Do you think it was a contest?" Veronica asks suddenly and the laughter practically explodes out of Logan.

* * *

**A/N:** Let me know how you guys liked this chapter. There's about 5 chapters left and maybe a sixth/epilogue...


	40. 37 One

**Title:** The Return 37-One  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Word Count:** 10,890  
**Characters/Pairings:** Parker, Logan, Duncan, Mac, Lilly I, Veronica, Dick, Wallace, Piz, Weevil, OFC, Casey Gant, Madison _(mentions: The Sinclairs, The MacKenzies and Keith Mars)_  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**37**

**One**

~One Year~

~Parker~

"Okay, so I was thinking we'd set up food in the kitchen, move all the furniture against the walls in the living room and maybe put on movies in the basement. After all, it's an awesome theater room that rarely ever gets used." Lilly explained, pressing her lips together and staring at the ceiling as she went through the list she'd been keeping in her head for the last month.

"Okay, but we should lock the office because I'm sure there's stuff in there that some people won't appreciate." Parker agreed, making an actual note on her actual _physical_ list that she had been keeping for the last month. Lilly might be able to remember all kind of things like party decorations, caterers, sale dates and her entire music collection while also attending both the mandated general courses and the extra class that she was taking in an attempt to quicken the pace of her education, but Parker couldn't. At least not without letting her grades slip below a B average.

"What are you guys talking about?" Veronica asked as she slid into the seat next to Lilly, setting her lunch tray down in front of her. "It better not be a discussion about how you're going to rearrange my house for a party that you never asked to have there in the first place."

"Logan gave us the green light." Lilly said in an almost off-hand way as she plucked a fry from Veronica's plate and popped it into her mouth. "I have this whole jailbird theme going on. Got some shiny silver streamers for the windows and I'm going to make some sort of curtain out of it so people would have to walk through it when they come through the door. I even had black and white striped shirts made up. They're cute."

"Are you joking?" Veronica dead panned even though Parker knew that nothing Lilly did could shock her. And Lilly rarely joked about anything that had to do with her parties. The legendary parties that she was already known for after five weeks at Hearst.

"You think I should have gone with bright orange? I thought about it but orange isn't really my color or your color… or Parker's for that matter. Mac might look good in it and we know Logan does because he had those pants in high school that I still don't understand but you know…" Lilly's ramble trailed off once she got a good look at Veronica's completely unamused expression.

"Lilly, I know for a fact that Logan did _not_ give you the green light. I know this because just a couple days ago he warned me that you had gotten it in your head that you were throwing Duncan a 'Break Out' party at the house and that he'd put a stop to it."

"That was a couple days ago, I talked to him yesterday and he was, you know, all for it." Lilly assured Veronica before turning back to Parker. "I got rented these great search lights for out back on the beach to be all like prison breaky. And I have the caterer working on a menu of a bunch of things that you can't get on the inside."

"What kind of things would those be?" Veronica asked, obviously her curiosity getting the better of her. "Not that we'll actually be having any of these things because you're not having the party at my house."

"Prime Rib sliders, lobster puffs, a sushi bar, steak kabobs, filet mignon bites, some tofu thing that I had him through in for Mac, and he's going to this whole thing with exotic fruit that will just be amazing. Plus there will be this fabulous three-tier cake that will depict all the different ways you can break out of prison and on top a big file will be sticking out. I dropped by to see it on my way to campus this morning and it's, like, amazing." Lilly's enthusiasm over the food seemed to gain momentum as she described the cake, her hands gesturing widely and almost knocking the food out of Mac's hands as she came up to the table.

"That all sounds really good. I can't believe you ordered a three-tier cake but it wouldn't really be a Lilly party if it wasn't over the top. I wonder where you'll have it all delivered since you're not having a party at my house." Veronica checked her watch and stood with her tray. "Crap, I have to get to class. Find another location, Lilly"

"I thought you said you cleared it with her." Parker said worriedly as she watched Veronica hurry away, dumping her tray and exiting the food court.

"Don't worry about it. I have the key to the house, I know their schedules and we'll be in and setting up before either can get home to stop us. By time their home the caterers should have the food set up, the bartenders should be all set up and the cake should be delivered." Lilly explained, her voice taking on that weirdly calming tone she got when she was talking you into something. "You just have to skip out of the last fifteen minutes of your ethics class, meet me in the staff parking lot and we'll get there in time to let in the food people and start setting up the decorations and, if we stick to my preliminary time table, we should be past the point of no return by time they get back from their thing with Mr. Mars that I talked him into setting up."

"There are so many things _ethically_ wrong with that plan I don't know where start." Mac commented as she stared, open mouthed, at Lilly.

"Like what?" Lilly asked looking genuinely perplexed.

"Skipping out of ethics. Breaking into our friends house and letting unauthorized staff members in and why are you in the staff parking lot?" Mack explained, starting to eat her garden burger.

"I sort of borrowed my business professor's car tag." Lilly glanced down at her salad, stabbing a radish.

"Does he know you borrowed it?" Parker asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'll put it back. I need it because the lot is the closest and, coincidently, equidistant from _my_ class and _your_ class. I'll put it back next week." She said it so matter-of-factly that, for a second, it seemed completely reasonable to Parker.

"Maybe we should just have it at our house?" Parker suggested, already knowing that Lilly wouldn't agree. They'd talked about this before. A lot.

"No. You guys cannot have the party at our house." It was Mac that protested this time, shaking her head at the suggestion.

"We can't have the party at our house because even though five of us live there it's still too small, a lot smaller than Logan and Veronica's." Lilly nodded at Mac, spurred on by the fact that the brunette seemed to be on her side. "And we don't have a home theater in the basement. Our basement is Wallace's den of iniquity and then there's the bog of eternal stench that Piz calls a bedroom."

"Maybe, this would spur them into cleaning their rooms?" Parker tried. It was a weak effort because, to be honest, she wasn't all that into the idea of having the party at their house either. It was small, there wasn't any beach access and because it was so close to campus they'd run the risk of other college students that they didn't know just showing up.

Mac almost seemed to gag at the thought of Piz and Wallace's rooms. "Seriously what do they keep in there?"

"I don't know but most of the time I wonder if we just should have split the extra cost when Veronica moved out last June and not agreed to let the boys invade." It had sucked when Veronica had moved out and the house, somehow, suddenly seemed a whole lot more empty with just the three of them. They'd gotten lonely and, pathetically, felt much less safe without the tiny blonde there. Which Wallace took advantage of when he pitched them the idea of having two guys living with them, that if there were any intruders they'd be safe and not sneaking downstairs with baseball bats. The one time there'd been even a hint at an intruder – which turned out to be Dick – Piz had hid behind Parker and Wallace was the one holding the bat. The three girls and Veronica had signed up for kickboxing classes the next day.

"Well… hindsight. I have to run but I'll meet you in the staff lot at 3:15, okay?" Lilly was out of her seat and across the food court before Parker had a chance to agree. Mac just rolled her eyes.

* * *

~Logan~

There were streamers. There were actual streamers in his house and Lilly was trying to get him to change into a black and white striped shirt and he was going to kill Veronica when she got back from that thing with her dad.

"Logan, if you don't put on the shirt you'll screw up the theme. I got you one with long sleeves and everything so you can do your emo thing and pull them over your hands. I've accommodated you enough." Lilly pushed the shirt at him again.

"Actually I think you'll find you owe me one. You're invading my house and while I normally trust Veronica's judgment I can't believe she gave in and said you could have the damn party here." Logan argued. Was that a balloon? Did they sully his beautiful house with streamers _and_ balloons? This wasn't a five year old's birthday party, it was a 21 year old man's celebration to freedom from prison. "Lose the balloons."

"I already did, I stopped Parker before she could blow up anymore. Now put on the shirt." She threw the shirt at him this time and walked away before he could protest any more than that.

If he was honest it wasn't all that bad. The shiny silver streamers were only in the windows and made to look like prison bars, and they hung down over the doors like the beaded curtain Veronica had put up over her closet door in their bedroom. Lilly had old seasons of Prison Break playing on the big screen in the basement and music was blaring from the speakers in the living room where she'd pushed all the furniture against the walls, broke out some club lighting and laid down a dance floor to protect his carpet. The back deck was lit by the bonfire on the beach and the faux search lights she'd placed on the way down to said bonfire. It was cute, if you liked parties with a theme. The shirts weren't even all that bad and they had the date embroidered over right breast like a prisoner identification number and the words 'Donut Break' written under them. She really had gone all out for this because, well… how often did your baby brother get out of prison?

If only she hadn't gone all out in _his_ house. Now he was going to have to yell at Veronica for giving in when he'd warned her about it and told her not to give in, under any circumstances.

"You know, I don't think anyone will get away without wearing one tonight, it'd be easier just to give in." Parker's voice said softly from behind him. She had the required shirt on already but a short skirt, some fishnet stockings and black heels to complete the outfit. She'd been able to appropriately prepare for this.

"You get to make the outfit look good, I'm just expected to put it on and not care if it clashes with the rest of my outfit." He was whining but this was just one more annoyance that he didn't want to deal with today. He'd had a hard day of leanin' and he just wanted his girlfriend, a beer and some Chinese takeout. Was that too much to ask?

"You live here. Go upstairs and make the outfit your own if it's such a big deal." Parker laughed as she walked off, carrying a box of stuff in Lilly's general direction.

Logan rolled his eyes as he trudged up the stairs, his new shirt slung over his shoulder and his cell phone already out, dialed and to his ear.

"Hello?" Veronica's happy voice came over the line along with the wind and other street noises.

"Veronica." He used his stern voice, trying to convey the message that he was not pleased.

"What's wrong with you? You asshole professor still giving you a hard time? Just say the word and I'll take him down, have Mac sink his credit rating and Weevil disappear his car."

"On top of the professor thing I came home to find out that you ended up telling Lilly that she could have that party here." He had a hard time keeping the hard edge to his voice now, it was always so hot when she got all vengeancy on his behalf.

"I'm on my way home."

* * *

~Duncan~

A party wasn't really his favorite of ideas the day after he got out of prison, but it's not like he could keep his little girl up all night to keep him company. He'd rather stay home and watch her sleep a little, watch some television, take a shower in the complete privacy of his own bathroom and try to get a jump start on his classes for when he started at Hearst in January. But, Lilly had been insisting on having a party for him for the last couple months, talked about it every time she came to visit. Parker had been pretty excited about it too so he had tried not to argue the point too much.

Parker had promised that it wasn't going to be very big. Lilly had promised a blowout. And Veronica had promised it wouldn't be at her house. It was looking like the only one that had been right was Lilly. As usual.

He could hear the music coming from inside and some kind of flashing lights in the back accompanied by a glow any Californian would recognize as the beach bonfire. He could see that the house was packed and there were at least 20 people milling about on the front porch and in the yard and probably tons out back where he was certain Logan had beach access. If he had to guess there was probably around 100 to 150 people at this party. Why did he let his sister talk him into these things?

"You better get in there. Lilly and Parker have been working on this for a month and if it's not perfect I'm the one that will have to hear about it." Mac said, coming to a stop next to him. She was oddly dressed in a black and white striped t-shirt and black jeans with a ski mask scrunched up at the top of her head, like she'd been in the middle of taking it off and then just left it.

"You going on a bank heist later?" Duncan asked, getting a closer look at her. Today's date was embroidered on the shirt along with the words 'Donut Break'. He was going to kill his sister.

"Hey, man. How you adjusting to life on the outside?" Dick asked as he came to a stop beside Mac. He was dressed in a similar fashion and held a black purse with a green dollar sign taped to the side, which he handed to his girlfriend.

"Why are you guys dressed like that?" He was dreading the answer.

"Didn't Lilly, or Parker, tell you about the 'theme'?" Mac asked, and he could see the barely repressed glee in her face.

"No."

"Oh goody. I didn't miss this _or_ the look on Veronica's face when she gets home and realizes that she got scammed at lunch and Lilly picked her pocket and took her house key." That was definitely glee in Mac's voice and in the way she rubbed her hands together.

* * *

"I didn't break out of prison, Lilly. I was released because I had reached the end of my sentence." Duncan insisted for what felt like the thousandth time that night. About fifteen people from high school had already come up to him to congratulate him on his successful break out from prison. And ask if Veronica had helped.

"But that's not a good theme." Lilly insisted back, like she had the last 999 times. She filled a plate full of fruit and bounced out of the kitchen and away from him.

Duncan cast a look around the room and spotted Parker.

"Why didn't you stop her?" He asked as he came to stop in front of her.

"Stop who? Your sister? Have you ever tried that before?" Parker raised an eyebrow at him and smirked a little. She was hanging out with Lilly too much. And Logan. And Veronica. And pretty much the rest of the weird little group. "You know her, once she decides something she will not be denied. That's how we ended up with a hot pink living room over at Casa de Loco."

"How is it with you all living together without Veronica?" He remembered how worried she was when Veronica had moved out and she'd been left with Lilly and Mac. She'd been roommates with Mac for two years at this point but she it was the friendship with Lilly she'd been worried about. They'd gotten close but always had Veronica as a buffer.

"It's actually pretty good. Lilly and I have gotten close, not as close as she is with Veronica, but I didn't expect that. It's been fun. We had a party for the start of school that we threw together, that was fun. I'm helping her with some of her course work but she's actually really smart so I'm often reduced consultant when she just wants to check something." Parker relaxed into the conversation. He was glad to be conversing with her without a window between them. "So, how is it being out?"

"I never realized what a big fan of privacy I am. Glad not to have to talk to people on telephones while looking at them through a sheet of bulletproof glass. Being able to hold my daughter whenever I want? Pretty much the best thing ever." He smiled at his friend and she laughed. "I don't know if I'll get used to not having to write you letters when I want to tell you something though."

"I know, I started writing a letter to you this morning to tell you about awesome party I was planning with Lilly and then I though 'wait, it's for him'. It'll take some getting used to."

"If you want we continue with the letters and, once a week, I'll stand outside a window and call you and you stand on the other side and–" He was cut off by her sudden shove to his shoulder.

"Very funny. I actually have to run to the bathroom. Watch my stuff?" Parker asked and, at his nod, walked off in what he assumed was the direction of the bathroom.

Alone again he sighed and leaned back against the kitchen counter. It was a nice kitchen, done in cheery yellows and the fridge had those fun magnates that he'd never had growing up because his mother didn't want them cluttering up the look of her kitchen. They held up lists and random pictures of Logan and Veronica and various friends. And a sticky note from Logan to Veronica that Lilly probably should have taken down to save his best friend the embarrassment of it being displayed for all to see.

"Have you seen, Lilly?" Veronica asked, coming to an abrupt stop in front of him.

"A few minutes ago actually, she headed out to the dance-living-club area." Duncan could see that she was not amused and hadn't exactly expected the party. He'd already gotten an earful from Logan about how Lilly had conned them both into the party, not that he wasn't glad Duncan was out and didn't want to celebrate the fact he just didn't want to do so at his house where he'd probably have to clean up afterwards.

"Have you seen Parker?" She didn't sound too annoyed with Parker though.

"She went to the bathroom."

"I guess if I plan on yelling at Lilly then I should yell at Parker some too, but we all know who is actually responsible for sneaking around and throwing this party at my house when I specifically told her not to." The words rushed out of Veronica in one long sentence and then, when she stopped, she gasped in a huge breath before storming off in the direction of her living room.

* * *

~Mac~

"Madison, I don't think you should be here." Mac commented as she came up behind the blonde at the outside bar.

"Oh god, it's you. Shouldn't I say the same for you?" The other girl sneered before turning back to the bartender and ordering some fruity drink.

"No, I mean you shouldn't be _here_, at Logan and Veronica's." Mac almost felt a little bad for the other girl since their parents had decided to reveal the whole switched at birth thing to them. Mac had been okay with the announcement since she'd already known for years, but Madison was not taking it well. Especially when the Sinclairs had decided that they were going to pay for Mac's college tuition and living expenses like they were with Madison.

"Why are doing this to me?" Madison growled out, frustrated.

"Doing what to you?" She was genuinely confused as to what Madison was talking about, like the whole switched at birth thing was Mac's fault when the only one that had seriously benefited from it was Madison.

"Pulling this whole Single White Female thing. You're here at a party with _my_ friends and with _my_ boyfriend. My parents are funding you now and my little sister _and_ little brother both would rather hang out with you." Madison went on, downing her drink quickly before setting the glass on the bar and asking for another. "Lauren won't even go shopping with me, or anything. She was always a little geeky but since finding out that you're her _real_ sister she basically doesn't want anything to do with me because she'd rather go to the Apple Store with _you_."

"So they're your brother and sister and your parents? Your friends that are throwing the party even though I live with Lilly and Parker? And Dick's still your boyfriend even though you broke up over three years ago?" Mac asked, no longer feeling sorry for her. "You know, if we hadn't been switched I would've been such a better Madison than you. In fact, you actually look like a Cindy."

Mac turned and walked away leaving Madison standing there with her mouth hanging open in horror. She was kind of offended, she'd never liked the name Cindy but it was her name and Madison had no right to hate it so much. After all, technically, it should be _her_ name.

* * *

~Lilly~

It was probably one of her better parties, that was for sure. She'd put a lot of effort into making sure that Duncan's party was the best ever.

"Hey, Lilly!" Piz called out to her and she could just make him out across the make shift dance floor under all the flashing lights she'd set up in here.

"Hey, Piz! Great mix," She called back as she tried to move through the room. She was glad that she'd let him put together a mix on her iPod instead of hiring a DJ. His band was setting up out back already. She hoped. She'd let him talk her into some live music and then let him talk her into letting his band play on the back deck and they were supposed to go on at nine-thirty or they weren't getting paid. Not that she was paying them but still, any later and it wouldn't work with the fireworks she had planned for an hour later.

"Yeah, thanks. I really tried to mix in some club hits and the list of songs you gave me and… it doesn't matter. I just came from outback and Logan is looking for you and Veronica was just in here and she's looking for you too." Piz informed her before hearing his name shouted by some nameless girl standing in the middle of the dance floor, arms crossed and pouting. Piz waved her off. "Logan wants to know why the hell the Chinese guy is talking about fireworks and Veronica just looked semi-pissed."

"I'll take care of it." Lilly told him, patting his shoulder and feeling genuinely amused at the worried look on his face. It had taken a year for her to understand him but she got him now and thought it was so cute how much he hated when anyone in the group fought. In his world everyone got along and he didn't have to worry about taking sides or who was right and who was wrong. She turned to move through the crowd but, just before disappearing into the next room she called out over her shoulder, "Better go get the band set up."

The game room was packed. Strike that, the _billiard_ _room_, as Logan insisted it be called, was packed full of people. Boys and girls playing pool, foosball and air hockey while another group crowds around the television, focused on a game of GTA that going on. She's about to move through and passed the room when a familiar blonde head flashes in her peripheral vision.

"Madison," Lilly simpers as she leans against the wall next to the girl in question.

"Lilly." Madison sneers back, a tight smile on her face. She knows she's in trouble.

"I don't remember putting your name on the guest list." Her voice is sweet and sugary, to the average listener she sounds wonderfully surprised that an old friend has shown up unexpectedly. To anyone with history at Neptune High though, her tone wouldn't fool anyone. Madison has made a mistake in coming and Lilly is neither amused nor forgiving.

"All of our Neptune High friends are here, Lilly, along with half of Hearst. It's not like there was a bouncer at the door checking off names." Madison has gone into defense mode and dropped the pretense that Lilly might be happy to see her. Another mistake. "As far as I can tell it was an open invitation to anyone that's ever met Duncan or might someday meet him."

"It was, but you should have read the fine print. No fake bitches with really bad haircuts and the propensity to open her legs for anyone and anything as long as they have a car and a decent bank account." Lilly informs the girl, her voice still keeping the light and sugary tone. Just because Madison doesn't play by the rules and pretense doesn't mean she can't.

"Then what are you and Veronica Mars doing here?" Madison snaps back, setting her drink down on the window ledge.

"Well, as you should be aware of, Veronica lives here because, you see, Logan picked her over whatever it is that you did to get him into bed. Tell me, Madi, how many drinks did it take to get him to forget exactly who, and what, you are?" Madison's eyes narrowed at her and Lilly could almost hear the angry growl growing in the girl's throat. She didn't let that stop here and continued on, "I, however, don't have to slum it based on a car and bank account. You see, I have access to billions and my very own fleet of automobiles." Lilly straightened up from her leaning position against the wall. "Now get out of here before someone else sees you and the property value drops."

Lilly picked up Madison's drink and turned to leave, but stopped for a moment, drawing Madison's attention back to her. "And by the way Madi, my haircut is amazing." And with the final word she flounced out of the room and away from the stomping of Madison's feet as she fled the room in embarrassment.

* * *

~Veronica~

"Lilly, I told you that you could not have the party here." Veronica's voice was low and dangerous as she stood on the back deck, practically vibrating with fury. She had been looking forward to coming home and relaxing with her boyfriend and a possible movie night with the gang. She had even decided to help Lilly look for new locations for the party if they could arrange for everything to be postponed a day. She should have realized that it had been much too easy at lunch, that Lilly hadn't put up enough of a fight.

"Everything was already all arranged and everyone knew the party was supposed to be here tonight. You'd have had people banging on the door all night anyway, so really I did you a favor." Lilly smiled back at her and Veronica felt herself want to give in.

"Oh, yeah, big favor when you told Logan that I gave you permission. He was pissed at _me_ when he called me, and I was leaving dad's wondering why he seemed so worried that Logan couldn't make it. You conned _my_ _dad_ into helping with this, how did you even manage that? You know what? I don't care because you still lied, to me and to Logan." She would not let herself give in to Lilly or the burning curiosity over how she had gotten her dad to help out with this whole thing. She would not.

"Your dad was easy. And I'm sorry about the whole Logan thing but he was pitching such a fit about the decorations and scaring the caterers that I had to tell him something." Lilly waved at someone crossing the deck down to the beach towards the bonfire and Veronica stopped herself, for the hundredth time, from being impressed by the whole thing. Her living room had been turned into a club, her kitchen was a buffet, a band was set up and playing on the back deck and a huge bonfire was lit down on the beach, not far from her house.

"Don't give me that crap. I told you, Logan told you, _repeatedly_ that you couldn't have the party here and you ignored us." Veronica would not let her growling stomach and the delicious smell of the food still wafting from the kitchen detract her from her tirade.

"Come on, Ronica, enjoy the party. What's done is done and we can't change it now, so just relax and go with it." Lilly reached out to place her hands on Veronica's shoulders and begin an impromptu massage.

_Oh God, it's Zen-Lilly_. Zen-Lilly had been making appearances off and on over the last three months and she was just as annoying as Hyper Productive and Neurotic Lilly that had consumed the three months before that when she was trying to wrap up her high school courses and get accepted into Hearst. Three months before that had been filled with Charitable Lilly, who had dragged everyone in the group to every soup kitchen and homeless shelter within 100 miles while simultaneously funneling some of her dad's bank account into bank rolling a teen crisis hotline and a woman's shelter. That Lilly hadn't been so bad until she threw a fit over the fact that nearly everyone cancelled because they had finals to cram for and couldn't take an hour long drive to help Lilly drive around San Diego and hand out blankets to the homeless.

"I want my key back." Veronica demanded, feeling defeated by the fact that the appearance of Zen Lilly meant that she wasn't going to get through to her tonight. Zen Lilly was unruffleable.

Lilly slipped her hand in her pocket and came out with the little silver key with a rubber monkey head on top and dropped it in Veronica's outstretched palm. "And Veronica Mars? I laid out you top on your bed so you better go change, you're ruining my theme."

Veronica watched Lilly move off toward the band, telling them to keep playing until she got back to make an announcement. It might take a little bit because the pyrotechnic was a little temperamental.

_The last thing anyone wants is a temperamental pyrotechnic_, Veronica thought as she pushed of the deck railing and headed back into the house to change. She was halfway up the stairs to her bedroom when she stopped short. _Pyrotechnic?_

* * *

Veronica searched the beach for Logan after being assured by about a zillion people that he was out there with Dick, Casey and Duncan. She didn't believe it one bit. She'd walked around the bonfire about twenty times and still no sight of her quarry. In another minute she was going to have to head back into the house to get a jacket, which would only ruin the outfit but without Logan's radiating body heat it made the outfit too cold and unpractical. She wore the black and white striped t-shirt with tattoo sleeves underneath, a black pleated skirt and black and white striped tights with her black combat boots. She looked good and it was all wasted on random guys that had no appreciation for it.

"Hey! V!" A familiar voice called out to her. Wallace was jogging down from the house. He had paired his shirt with jeans. Boys had it so easy.

"Hey Wallace, what's up?" Veronica walked toward the house to meet him, then slipped her arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Looking for Tamsin."

"I'm looking for Logan." Veronica sighed as she and her best friend pushed through the crowd. "How you liking the party?"

"It's a good thing I'm not epileptic or these lights would be an issue." He commented, looking down at her. "I thought you told Lilly and Parker that they couldn't have the party here."

"When has that ever stopped either of them?" Veronica asked, catching sight of four figures sitting a ways off from the bonfire in the dark, staring at the ocean. She'd recognize the melancholy of his posture anywhere. She'd found Logan. "I see Logan, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Later!" She heard him call out to her as she ran off toward her boyfriend and their friends.

A second later she was dropping down into the sand next to Logan and leaning her head against his shoulder. Without looking he wrapped his arm around her and continued his conversation with the others.

"–so it's not really a big deal." Casey was saying and both Duncan and Logan nodded along. Dick sighed and flopped back into the sand. He was clearly bored with the conversation.

"I think it's a big deal." Dick grumbled.

"He's talking the book deal, that it's not a lot of money." Logan clarified for his blond friend.

"I'll talk to you guys about it tomorrow, I have to get another drink." Casey said, getting up. "Hey Veronica."

"Hi Casey, how's UCLA?" She looked up at him and Logan turned his head to press a kiss into her forehead, to give her shoulders a light squeeze.

"It's good, I'm glad I stayed in state for college. I've taken over the publishing house from my parents now, so it's good that I'm here." He helped Dick up to his feet before looking back at her. "I'll see you later, I'm in need of more beer." And with that both he and Dick headed back up to the house.

"What'd you think of the fireworks DK?" Is all she asks and sees him smirk at her use of the nickname usually reserved only for Logan. They were sharing all kinds of things these days. A house, cars, meals, family, secrets and friends. They were all about sharing. And if she could talk him into it they'd be sharing a dog.

"They were great. I think Lilly really outdid herself on the party." Duncan conceded, ever the diplomat.

"You mean overdid it." Logan griped, obviously even less happy about the fireworks than he was about the party.

"Okay, over did it. I just didn't really expect this big of a party, thought it'd be something smaller. She's made a lot of friends this last year though, huh?" Duncan's being diplomatic and just for a second she thinks about what a great political career he could have had if he hadn't kidnapped his daughter, gone on the run and then to prison for the last year. He'd been expecting a movie night with the group, complete with pizza and popcorn and soda and all the old jokes. They would've watched _The Big Lebowski_ and _Goonies_ and all their old favorites. Instead he got about 500 of his sister's closest friends, a sushi bar and fireworks.

"It's okay Dunc, we'll have a movie night tomorrow if you want. You can bring Munchkin over and we'll order pizza and make popcorn and all the fun stuff. Logan even got a cotton candy machine if you can believe that." Veronica offered, smiling at her friend.

"Thanks," Duncan smiled back and then heaved himself up off the ground. "I'm going to get another drink, look for my sister and maybe start up a nice game of beer pong with one of my fine new friends here at my party."

"See you later, dude." Logan called out at his back before turning back to her. "So, might I say that you make that shirt look hot?"

"Really? This old thing?" She joked as she slid out from under his arm to straddle his legs. "I've been looking for you." Her voice softened as she looked into his face.

"I left my phone in the bedroom when I changed into my mandated costume." Logan reached up the frame her face with his hands for a moment before brushing back her hair. "How was your daddy-daughter date?"

"Um…" She stalled for a moment, sliding her arms around his shoulders. "Lets not talk about my dad right now."

"Well, if you insist." His eyes lit up at her suggestive tone and he wrapped his own arms around her, pressing her closer to his chest as their lips met.

"Why does there have to be all those other people in the world." She mumbled as her mouth moved down along his jaw and to his ear. She felt him shiver beneath her.

"What people?" He whispered and she giggled as he flipped them over and pressed her back into the sand. She wondered how long they'd be able to stay like this on the beach, in the dark, before one of their friends came looking for them. Then she let herself get lost in the make out and let the sounds of all the other people fade away.

* * *

~Dick~

"So, who do you think you'll get to write it?" Dick asked Casey as they leaned back against the railing of the back deck, drinking their beers.

"I was actually thinking about Veronica and Logan. Maybe they wouldn't mind doing a collaborative thing." Casey tilted his beer back and took a long pull. "Maybe have everyone write down their experiences and then Veronica could put them together into something cohesive."

"I don't know, man. It sounds like a good idea but it also sounds kind of bad when you think about everything that's happened." It really was a good idea and someone was probably going to end up doing a tell-all at some point anyway. This way, as all the main players, they could control it.

"I was thinking that maybe we'd get the ball rolling and then, we'll decide whether to anonymize it, change all the names and not list the author as Veronica but give her a cleverly disguised pseudonym. I can run the money through a shell corporation and list you all as board members or something like that. It's been done before. We'll probably have to change some of the names anyway because I can't imagine Meg Manning's family and Woody Goodman's estate signing off on it. Again though, because you're all the major players in the stuff that went down the last few years, and if it's all in your own words and stuff, there shouldn't be an issue with getting it out of the gate." Casey explained, and Dick felt better about it, about the fact that there was an anonymous option.

"Maybe. Enough business talk man. What's living in LA like? Life as head of a multimillion dollar publishing company?" Dick asked, over the maudlin conversation of whether or not the struggle that was their high school years deserved to be immortalized in print.

"Oh it's great, I'm either in class or in the office. All the chicks I meet are either college girls that don't understand why I can't just go to a damn party once in a while or the secretarial pool that's completely off-limits lest I want a sexual harassment charge my first year at the helm." Casey complained.

Dick smiled. The old Casey wouldn't have let those things stop him. They really were all growing up, weren't they? He'd been dating Mac for over a year now, Logan and Veronica were living together and, with the exception of Duncan and Lilly, they were all half way through college.

"Well then," Dick began as he reached out and gave Parker, who had been innocently passing by, a tug until she was standing next to him and looking somewhat annoyed. "May I introduce you to Parker Lee?" and with that he left the two to get acquainted.

* * *

"Don't you think that you should mingle a little?" Dick asked his girlfriend as her thumbs pressed buttons and she leaned into her onscreen movement.

"You're just saying that because you want my controller." Mac commented as she focused intently on the video game in front of her. She'd been at it for the last hour. It was getting late and he kind of wanted to go.

"Nope, I thought maybe you might want to do a round of the party before we head out. I'm tired and I have to get up in a few hours to go surfing with the guys." Dick pulled a geeky looking guy off the couch so he could sit next to his girlfriend.

"Come on Dick, it's not that late." She deliberately let herself get killed and set the controller down on the coffee table. "What's wrong?"

"I'm bored. My girlfriend won't play with me." He complained and she smiled, let herself get pulled up off the couch.

"Okay. Let's do a round."

* * *

~Wallace~

"You about ready to head out to the bonfire?" Wallace asked as his girlfriend snuggled back into his arms and hummed in response. He had to give it to Logan, or Veronica, or whoever picked out this couch for down in the theater. It was beyond comfortable. He let his eyes drift shut and feel sleep coming on even though there was a movie playing at full volume and a bunch of people trying to talk over it.

"Hey, man." The sound of Logan's voice pulled him, rudely, from his almost sleep.

"I thought you and Veronica were making out on a beach somewhere." He smirked, looking up at his best friend's boyfriend.

"We were but Lilly interrupted with some sort of crisis, so…" Logan flopped down on the couch next him and Tamsin, whose eyes never reopened.

"How come girls are always having a crisis, man?" He asked. None of the guys ever had a crisis that needed immediate attention in the nearest bathroom. Girls.

"I don't know, but Veronica doesn't usually get called in on the regular crisis like wardrobe malfunction and a broken heel. She's the one they call in to tase someone and prove that hey deliberately walked up and broke the heel." Logan commented before turning to face Wallace. "So, how's the puppy?"

"The puppy? You mean the adorable and completely misleading ball of fluff that chewed up a second pair of heels and whined all night so I got no sleep. The puppy that is to blame for the fact that I fell asleep in class and can't enjoy a perfectly good party because I'm so unbelievably tired that I'm having a hard time getting off this couch?" Tamsin asked, her eyes still shut and her head still resting on Wallace's shoulder. "That puppy?"

"That'd be the one." Logan's voice somehow sounding smaller. Wallace grinned at the fact that his tiny little girlfriend intimidated Logan almost as much as his best friend did.

"Well, aside from owing Tami two pairs of shoes, you also owe me a pair of sneakers, a new Wii power cord and controller, all the notes to all my classes this week because I've been too tired to take them and, oh yeah, all the notes from all my classes from before this week because he shredded them with the razors you called 'cute little puppy teeth'. You're damn puppy is fine, I however am on the verge of a nervous breakdown." Wallace complained.

"And a break _up_ because if I lose one more pair of shoes to that _dog_…" Tamsin threatened, her eyes finally opening only to narrow at Logan. She liked the puppy, thought he was the cutest thing on Earth and liked to sit on his bedroom floor and play with him, but when they went to bed and he was alone he'd cry until they let him on the bed and Tamsin refused to sleep with a dog on the bed. Then, after getting a grand total of twenty minutes of sleep, she'd gotten up and put on sneakers instead of the heels she'd brought over to wear the next day and, left alone in the room all day, the puppy ate and shredded anything and everything in sight.

"I'll have him out of your hair next Friday. Veronica keeps bringing up how much she misses Backup now that she's no longer living with her dad and hinting that she wants me to consider getting a dog. It's the perfect present for our anniversary." The excitement over the puppy was back in Logan's face. He'd been so excited when he'd shown up at Wallace's place on Monday with the little bundle and a handful of dog treats, a bag of expensive food.

"I still don't see why you didn't wait until _next_ Monday to get him, and why you had to bring him to _my_ house. Do you know how hard it is keeping him hidden from those three girls? And Piz?" Wallace sat up and Tamsin settled back into the pillows.

"The guy at the pound said they'd all be gone by then and I didn't want to get one from a breeder. I wanted to get her a pit bull, like Backup, so she can train him to keep her safe too." Logan explained once again. Wallace had asked this same question at least three times a day since he'd dropped the puppy off five days ago. Last night he'd called at three when the little monster had been at the peak of his crying.

"They don't have layaway at the shelter?" Wallace asked, again, annoyed.

"I got all this stuff for him stashed at Keith's apartment." Logan continued on without acknowledging Wallace's question. "It's all wrapped and stuff, I'll come by and pick up after my morning class and bring him back to Keith's so he can drop him off with all the stuff I got him while we're at dinner."

"You got him stuff? Why kind of stuff?" Tamsin asked. She flip flopped between being annoyed at the puppy and adoring him. When they'd had to run to Petsmart to get him a couple chew bones he'd had a hard time dragging her away from all the puppy paraphernalia.

"A couple beds for around the house, this cute little collar with spikes on it, some bowls and a mat. I actually got a couple of these little puppy car seats for our cars and then doggy seatbelts for when he's bigger. A couple little hoodies for when it's cold. He's shorthair and I don't want him to get be cold during the winter." Logan told her excitedly. They were probably going to give him a name like Steve or Logan Jr and start referencing him as their little baby.

"We live in Southern California." Wallace told him.

"So?"

"It doesn't get cold enough in SoCal for a dog to need a hoodie." Wallace deadpanned.

"Sometimes, Backup shivers." Logan informed him in the most serious voice Wallace had ever heard him use and that's when he knew. Logan had seriously lost his damn mind.

* * *

~Piz~

"I will give you a million dollars if you cut the music and start playing Kenny G." Veronica asked as she flopped down on the couch next to him. The girl he'd been talking to had been pulled away by her friend. Apparently she was a big fan of guitar players.

"Really?" He asked, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. He reached up to run his hand through his short hair and only vaguely missed the longer cut he'd had the first year and a half of college, before he cut it after he realized that no, the jokes were never going to get old and his friends were going to just keep on making them.

"I have access to Logan's bank account and I don't think he'd blame me." Veronica insisted, squeezing his upper arm in her desperation.

"I don't know…" he hedged, it was getting late and this was Veronica's house so she couldn't go to bed until everyone was gone. But, still…

"Have you been working out?" She asked, squeezing his bicep again.

"Bribery didn't work so you've moved on to flattery?" He asked, his shoulder shaking with laughter. Veronica would usually do it herself, he knew that, but she'd have to cross the dance floor to get to the iPod and she'd risk being swallowed by the crowd. Or getting caught by Lilly who insisted that the party could not, under any circumstances, end until at least 2am. They only had another hour to go but it seemed Veronica had reached the end of her patience.

"Did it work?" She asked, a hopeful look on her face and he hated to disappoint her.

"I actually have to live with Lilly, so… no." He was taking his life in his hands but while he was scared of Veronica he also knew that as his roommate, Lilly could make his life hell. But again, so could Veronica.

Veronica opened her mouth to either to continue to try and convince him or to threaten him but, thankfully, Dick sat down next to her and called her name.

"Veronica?"

"Don't move," Veronica commanded him, got a good grip on his wrist and then turned to face Dick. "What?"

"I have to ask you something." Dick told her, eying Piz and the fact that Veronica had a death grip on his wrist. _What'd you do?_ Dick's eyes asked before he turned back to Veronica. "I want to ask Mac to move in with me and I thought, well, if that'd be okay."

Veronica's grip slackened and then released completely in her shock. "Did you just ask me for permission to ask your girlfriend to move in with you?"

"Shouldn't you ask her current roommates?" Piz asked, stupidly not using the opportunity of Veronica's momentary distraction to get away.

"Well, I could ask Parker or Lilly but I'm asking Veronica because she knows Mac best." Dick replied to Piz before turning back to Veronica. "Do you think it's a good idea?"

Piz didn't wait around to hear Veronica's answer, he'd know about it soon enough, but right now he had to get away from this blonde to avoid another's wrath.

* * *

~Weevil~

"Hey." Lilly greeted softly, leaning up against the wall outside the bathroom. He hadn't really noticed her as he walked through the hallway on his way out back.

"Hey." He kept his voice soft and tried not to let it convey any of the frustration he was feeling toward her. They'd been able to get be friendly to each other the past six months, but lately he'd just been unable to get past that place where he thought they could be more and she seemed to date rich white guy after rich white guy.

"Did you just get here?" She asked, her voice still soft and sweet as she moved out of the bathroom line.

"Pretty much, don't you have to…?" He asked, nodding at the bathroom door.

"Not really, I was just going to freshen my makeup." She smiled up at him, as if he was an old friend that she was finally reconnecting with. Just a friend. "I'd rather talk to you. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Well, by the looks of the party, you've been busy." Weevil nodded behind him where Veronica's living room had been turned into some kind of nightclub.

"Yeah, and you missed the band and the fireworks." She joked and he laughed and he let himself ease into the comfort of their old 'friendship'.

"How's the boyfriend?" He asked, not able to let himself ease too much into the situation.

"We broke up. Apparently he googled me and didn't like what he found out so we had this huge break up scene over the phone." She told him, didn't sound too upset about it though. "It was kind of funny, breaking up over the phone because we kept fighting and I kept thinking this is the moment to hang up but I never did. Just sat there and listened to all the horrible things he had to say about me. Like his opinion mattered."

"It didn't? Most people count their boyfriend's opinion among the ones that matter." This was one of the things that frustrated him. She flirted and didn't care when she broke up with someone, didn't count the boyfriend's opinion as something that mattered because in Lilly world all that mattered was her opinion. And Veronica's, but the list ended there.

"I wrote him off the moment his tirade about what a whore I was in high school started. Honestly, where the hell was he the last few years because I can't imagine that many people that find my past exploits mysterious." She laughed at this, about the fact that she'd been in a coma for sleeping with her boyfriend's father. Her _other_ boyfriend because in order to sleep with _his_ father she'd have to find him first. It frustrated him that she found it funny that this had all happened and that she expected every person in the world to know it.

"Not everyone knows every single thing about you, Lilly." Weevil told her, trying to keep his irritation out of his voice. There was no reason to rock the boat and piss her off and cause a scene and end the tentative 'friendship' they'd been building.

"His dad is an agent and his mom was an actress. They probably read the tabloids at the breakfast table like the morning paper and lord knows the Lilly Kane attack was everywhere. And then the Aaron Echolls trial and the Aaron Echolls murder and then that whole thing last year with the Kane Heiress Wakes Up headlines. He should have known." She explained wryly.

"Probably." He conceded the point, there was no use arguing with her about something that would only take place in her world. In his world all the dad's worked in garages or factories and all the mom's worked for the mom's of her world. They didn't read tabloids at the breakfast table, they didn't even read the paper. They rushed through breakfast and out the door and didn't care about what was going on in the world – or Hollywood – that day because they had to get to work and they had bills to pay.

She smiled at him, one of those soft and secret smiles she used to give him when they were alone together and no one even had the slightest clue about. She reached for his hand and tugged him out of the hallway, through the kitchen and out the front door and onto the porch where she stopped. It was quieter out here. All the people that had been milling about when he got here an hour earlier seemed to have dissipated, either leaving or heading back to the bonfire where most everyone else was congregating.

"Lilly, what are you–" He was interrupted by the feel of her lips on his, he was startled but not enough to keep him from wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He deepened the kiss, and she giggled. She tasted like strawberries, he remembered that from before too. He eased into her and, as he did so, she pulled away and tugged him down the front steps. He followed her into the dark, not caring where they were going.

"I think we should get out of here." She whispered as she pressed her lips against his again. He nodded dumbly as he followed her again, further out into the darkness and into the jumble of cars parked along the street. "Where'd you park?"

"I don't–" He started to protest. He'd come over on his new bike, and he didn't have a spare helmet for her. He'd had enough, his fingers wrapped around the black suspenders she had on and tugged her toward him. She was caught off guard and stumbled a bit on her sky scraper heels, practically falling into him. His mouth slanted over hers and he swallowed the small moan she let escape as his hand closed over her breast.

The stood there for a few minutes, kissing. He could feel himself harden and thought desperately of how to get her back to his place.

"I have my car." She whispered in his ear before taking the lobe into her mouth. His eyes practically rolled back in his head. She sucked for a moment before releasing his ear with a small pop. She stepped back and, before his hands could pull her back, she slipped her hand into the pocket of the tiny black shorts she wore. She pulled out a set of car keys and tossed them to him. "You drive."

* * *

They pulled up to his apartment and she was on his lap, wiggling, before he even put the car in park. He gripped her hips and, pressing her down, he ground up into her as he shoved his tongue into her mouth. She moaned, loudly, as her hands gripped at his shoulders.

Her head leaned back, offering the long white column of her throat to him. He latched on, his mouth kissing as much as he could before sucking at the spot where her neck met her shoulder. Her moan was even louder, no longer muffled by his mouth. One of her hands slid down over his shoulder, down his chest and rubbed the front of his jeans. He moaned loudly too.

"We need to go in." He hissed out through his teeth as she continued to rub at him. The hand disappeared and the sexual haze cleared a bit as she reached behind her to open the car door. Then her hand was back, popping the button and lowering the zipper.

"Better hurry then." She said, her voice husky with lust. He gripped her ass and slid them both out of the seat and he stood, leaning against the car as he tried to get his balance and shut the car door.

The hand disappeared from the front of his jeans and he felt it wrap around his neck as she started to grind her hips into him, legs wrapping around him. He haltingly made it up the walkway to his place, moaning and stumbling as she wiggled in his arms and kissed him passionately. He had her pressed against the door jam, trying to work his key into the lock, when her hand slid back down and into his jeans.

Weevil's head exploded as her hand wrapped around him and squeezed, tugged. He groaned and nearly shouted with relief as the door opened and they fell through it. He got his balance again, leaning back against his kitchen counter. Lilly's free hand reached behind them and slid into his back pocket before sliding back out a moment later with his wallet. She extracted the condom he kept there and unwrapped her legs from around his waist and let them lower to the floor, slid her hand out of his pants.

She pressed the condom into his chest and took as step backwards, kicking the door shut in the process. She pulled the suspenders down her arms, releasing herself from them. She unbuttoned her shorts, slid the tiny zipper down and let them fall, sliding down her legs slowly and seductively, as if they knew, like their owner, what to do to drive him wild. He focused on the tiny, black lace underwear she was wearing. A glance up at her face caught her smirk and then his attention was pulled away again, her hands moving to grip the bottom of her tight, striped shirt. She stood there a moment, just like that. Her legs bare, shorts pooled at the floor, arms crossed at the wrist, hands gripping the hem of a shirt that almost every single person at the party had been wearing. She waited until his eyes swung back up to meet hers before she tugged the shirt off and whipped it at him.

Lilly stood there in her underwear of black lace and the matching bra and the shiny black heels that made her at least a good six inches taller than she'd normally be. A black tattoo marred her hip, words written in a fancy script. Two words, the second of which that he didn't recognize – deuxieme chance.

Lilly noticed his lingering gaze. "It means second chance in French. I got a few weeks after we got back from that trip last year. Veronica, Mac, Parker and I all went and got something."

Weevil felt himself nod and then watched as Lilly turned and walked away, toward his bedroom, her heels clicking on the floor as she went.

Following her, he undressed as he went, leaving his clothes in a trail down the short hallway. He entered the bedroom and flipped the overhead light off as she turned on the small lamp next to his bed.

He was in only his boxers now and those too went as he took the remaining steps toward her. She slipped away before he could reach her, sliding onto his bed and kneeling there in the middle. She crooked her finger at him and he was struck by her confidence, something she'd always had so much of that it often led to her downfall. But the look in her eyes, the insecurity he saw there, watching him… it's what made him follow her onto the bed and reach for her.

He pressed against her, pulling her to him before they fell to the mattress and rolled until she was underneath him, pressed into the soft bedspread that he'd gotten from his grandmother. He kissed her, trying to erase the insecurity and confidence until it was just her with him. This was probably a mistake, he knew that. They'd been through too much to ever really get passed it. The tortured love story might work for Logan and Veronica but he didn't think he'd be able to handle the constant drama and need of being with someone he had so much history with.

His hands held hers above her head, intertwining their fingers and pressing the condom back into her hand. He felt her body arch beneath him, trying to rush him into it and he complied. He let her arching body push him into a roll until he was pressed into the mattress and she was straddling him, tearing the wrapper open with her teeth and extracting the condom. She rolled it over him quickly, efficiently, and then lifted and guiding him into her as she sank down on him. She set a hard and fast pace, her hands running up and down her own body and into her own hair. Pinching her nipples and then his and running up and down his chest, she went wild and he let her, gripping her hips.

Lilly moaned loudly, gaining volume the faster and harder she slammed her hips into his. He allowed himself to get lost in the moment and forgot, completely, that this was probably a mistake. At least for a minute or two.

* * *

**A/N:** What does everyone think? It was a long one (you have a week to read it) and ended on a 'good' note but don't think it'll all be smooth sailing from here, there's still a few chapters left.


	41. 38 Two

**Title:** The Return 38-Two  
**Rating:** R  
**Word Count:** 11,626  
**Characters/Pairings:** Veronica, Logan, Duncan, Mac, Parker, Lilly I, Veronica, Dick, Wallace, Piz, Weevil, OFC _(mentions: Casey Gant, Lilly II and Keith Mars)_  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**38**

**Two**

~Two Weeks~

~Veronica~

"So you're going to be where?" Veronica asked. She was sitting, Indian-style, in front of her dresser searching her bottom drawer for her favorite pair of yoga pants.

"Dick's place at first, we might hit a bar for a little while but we'll be at Dick's most of the night." Logan was walking around the bedroom doing things like putting on his watch and tying his shoes, his hand brushing the top of her head every time he walked passed her to the bathroom or his closet. "You'll be home all night, right babe?"

"Right. Have you seen my purple yoga pants by any chance? They're missing." She'd gone through the drawer twice and still hadn't been able to find them.

"I think they're in the laundry, but if they're not there then they've been collected so you might want to check under the bed." He was laughing, but it wasn't funny. Half her clothes ended up in some sort of nest under the bed. She didn't know what was wrong with that dog but he seemed to have some need to collect her things and hide them under the bed.

Crawling on her hands and knees toward the bed she prepared herself for whatever disaster waited for her under there. Last night it had been her favorite sweater, a necklace, her brush and about three dozen pairs of both her and Logan's socks. The night before had seen half their clean laundry dragged under the bed and across the dusty floor during the thirty seconds it took her to take the towels into their bathroom and set them on the counter. She hadn't even taken the time to put them away, just set them in there and when she got back the basket was tipped and he was frantically trying to get as much under the bed as possible before he was caught.

She crouched further down to look but squeezed her eyes shut at the last moment, dread filling her and she knew that her pants were under there, dirty and dusty and drooled on. Deep breath and she opened her eyes and not only were her pants under there so was every single pillow in the house that _didn't_ belong in their bedroom, Logan's dress slacks from their dinner two nights ago and half the clothes that had been in her laundry basket this morning. And, on top of it all, her new dog sat looking both triumphant and sorry.

"Ares!" She shouted in frustration and reached out to grab her pants but, somehow guessing what she wanted, he grabbed onto the other end and started pulling in the opposite direction.

"Did he collect them?" Logan asked and she could hear him stepping out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She could hear the chuckle and practically feel his smile as he watched her fight a six pound ball of fluff for her pants.

"Let go you little rat," She ground out as she pulled on her pants and felt him double his own efforts. It shouldn't be this difficult to get them away from him, she should be able to pull the pants, and him, out from under the bed with ease. She glanced back at Logan and saw him leaning over her, bracing himself on the bed, to try and see their dog.

"You're going to tear them if you keep that up." Logan told her and she let go. She heard Ares slide across the floor and into the wall on the other side of the bed and let out a tiny indignant yip. Her boyfriend laughed and walked around the bed to pick up both the dog and her pants.

"How come you picked this one? The thief?" Veronica complained as she caught the pants Logan threw at her and eyed the puppy he dropped onto the bed.

Logan laughed again and picked up his cell phone before walking back around the bed to her. "Your dad always says you have a thing for unreformable bad boys." A quick kiss and he walked out of the bedroom with Ares trailing after him. She followed too, flinging the pants across the end of the bed.

"He steals our stuff." She complained, following her boyfriend and dog into the kitchen. Logan was pulling the beer that he'd bought earlier out of the fridge.

"He loves us, he just wants to keep us close when we're gone." Logan told her again. This was not a new conversation. "Would you rather we got rid of him? Rather not have a dog?"

Her jaw dropped and she scowled at Logan. He knew the answer to this, but asked it all the same. She might complain about him constantly – he really was a pain in the ass – but Ares was her baby and she loved him despite his kleptomania. She'd break him of that and he'd be a fully function member of the family in no time. "Of course not, I love him. I just wish he wouldn't take things."

"Well, maybe we should put his pillow under the bed and make it his own little area. I think he's just trying to find a place in the house." Logan pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Please. The whole house is his. You bought him a bed for every single room and he's got a billion toys and free reign… which he uses to systematically pilfer items all day long and hide them." She groused, relaxing into her boyfriend's body and watching as her puppy circled them before wedging himself between their ankles and laying on their feet.

"It's a pretty bad hiding space when it's always under our bed and he knows that we know where it is. I read in one of those books that they like to keep their owners smell near them. Makes them feel safe." Logan explained, sounding like an expert. He'd been like this all week, the next thing she knew he was going to start insisting that he was a dog whisperer. "Maybe we'll put the bed we have in the bedroom under the bed and an old t-shirt of ours or something."

Veronica let out a long sigh before agreeing to try it that night. Logan released her and swept up their puppy to give him a smacking kiss on his head and then hand him off to her. He scooped up his beer, kissed her goodbye and headed out of the kitchen toward the door that led to the garage. "Have fun with your girls night." He called over his shoulder.

"Have fun with boys night." She called back, setting the puppy back on the floor and turning to the fridge to pull the desserts she picked up out to thaw. She had to go back upstairs and find different pants to wear for movie night since her. Ares followed her dragging a seat cushion from one of the kitchen chairs behind him.

* * *

"You know, Veronica, I think Ares might be the cutest puppy on the planet." Parker insisted, scratching behind his ears and rubbing his belly.

"Um… that adorableness masks the evil inside. I was here on Tuesday and, like, five minutes in he literally hid my laptop case and my shoes." Mac didn't mention the fact that he'd had a hold of her jacket before they realized what he was doing. "Of course Veronica knew exactly where they were."

"Where were they?" Parker asked, eyes wide and staring at Ares like she couldn't imagine him doing anything wrong.

"I bet they were under Veronica and Logan's bed, right? That's where he hid my shoes when I was over." Lilly guessed as she scooped up an enormous amount of hummus with a slice of pita bread.

"He steals my stuff all the time, stock piles it under the bed. Logan says it's just because he loves me, but he steals everyone's stuff when they come to the house." Veronica explained, reaching for the giant bowl of Doritos. "He's basically a slut. Showing the love to every single person that shows him the slightest bit of attention."

"Maybe he's into fashion." Parker said, trying to put a positive spin on it. "He steal those hot pink sneakers of yours, Lilly?"

"Yeah…" Lilly hedged.

"See, he's into fashion and trying to prevent a tragedy." Lilly scoffed at this, her mouth dropped open in protest. Parker gave her a quelling look and Veronica tried to tamp down on her laughter as her two glared good naturedly at each other. "I'm just sayin."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I love those shoes and they're awesome. _Not_ a tragedy. Can we talk about something other than the dog please?" Lilly sat back, sinking into the couch, shoving another large slice of pita into her mouth. Veronica rolled her eyes before catching sight of Ares running off with her wallet.

"Oh my God, get him." Veronica yelled, bounding off the couch and chasing her puppy who had started to take evasive maneuvers. "The pizza money is in there."

With that the other three girls jumped to chase after the little dog as well.

* * *

~Wallace~

"You know, there's some poetry in this… some where." Dick's voice was less than enthused as he lost another hand. "What's that old saying about luck and love?"

"Just because you're losing so miserably doesn't mean you should blame it on clichés." Weevil remarked as he swept the chips toward him.

"How is it that every time we play with you, you win?" Logan complained as he watched more of his money get added to Weevil's pile.

"What's that old saying about luck and love?" Weevil repeated, grinning as he began to sort and stack his chips. "Whose deal?"

"Mine." Duncan said, taking a sip of beer. Logan reached over, snagged the bottle and sniffed it. "What?"

"Just checkin." Logan grinned, sliding the bottle back to his friend.

"I can't believe I let you guys talk me into wasting $500 of my hard earned money." Wallace complained, letting his head drop down onto the poker table.

"Dude, you borrowed it from me." Logan said, looking down at the back of Wallace's head.

"Yeah, but eventually I'll have to pay it back, right? And do you know what indignities I will have to suffer to do so?" Wallace complained, not lifting his head. Another dozen undercover operations with Veronica, and posing as the boyfriend. Letting her call him funny little nicknames in public. Trying to seduce potential fiancées of wealthy clients who, understandably, suspect gold digging. Planting bugs and tracers and spying on people. Taking pictures of things he never wanted to see in his life.

"Yeah, well, you've been screwing up my hand all night so be grateful I don't tell Veronica you have to work $1,000." Logan groused.

"I should just start working somewhere normal. Like the mall or something because it's not so easy studying during a stakeout. You can't turn the lights in the car on and holding the flashlight while trying to keep an eye out isn't as easy as Veronica makes it look."

Duncan dealt the next hand and, surprisingly, Wallace won a little of his money back. Two more hands later and he officially declared himself on a streak.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Wallace exclaimed as he slapped his cards down on the table. He reached for his winnings and was stopped by Piz.

"Sorry man, but turns out your streak didn't last." Piz flipped over his own cards and slid all the chips towards him.

"You know what they say man, never jinx a streak by calling it a streak." Dick chuckled as Weevil dealt the next hand.

"Damn." And Wallace let his head fall back to the table with a thud.

* * *

~Mac~

"I don't know, Dick has been acting weird all week." Mac explained as she stuffed the last half of her slice of pizza into her mouth. "Well, weirder than normal."

"Huh, well, that's what you get for dating Dick Casablancas." Veronica told her, looking away to the television. Mac glanced at the movie they'd put in an hour ago and rolled her eyes. _Clueless_, one of Lilly's choices. Of course they had the whole gamut of teen flicks. Veronica had been pitching _Cruel Intentions_ since they'd all got there.

"Do you know something?" Mac asked, pressing Veronica for answers. Veronica always knew something, always had the answers because there's nothing Veronica did better than dig up the dirt and interrogate Dick. Nobody interrogated Dick like Veronica, she could get all the information out of him that she wanted in ten minutes or less.

"I know a lot of things, none of which would interest you. Plus I do recall a certain pact that there would be no mention of school work and the like tonight." Veronica deflected, turning to the other girls in the group. "So, speaking of Dick, anyone got any new boy prospects to tell us about?"

"Um… I'd actually keep talking about my boyfriend and what you know that you're not telling me about." She pressed her best friend, looking her straight in the eye, waiting her to look away.

Veronica held her gaze and, without flinching a millimeter, told her "Nothing, quit being paranoid."

"Okay, hand me a slice of that one over there." Mac asked, sighing and accepting the fact that if Veronica did know anything then she was never going to tell her.

"You mean the meat lovers with extra cheese?" Parker asked, her brow furrowing, but she still slid the slice of pizza onto Mac's plate.

"Yeah. It's weird, I've been craving meat lately." Mac explained as she lifted the slice and took a bite. "Hey, where's Tami? I thought that she was going to be here tonight."

Veronica tipped the bottle of wine into Mac's glass, topping it off with the pale gold liquid. "She called earlier. Got called into work, but she said she'd try and get off early so she could at least stop by. She'll be here around ten if she can make it."

"Great." Mac mumbled, taking a sip of her Chardonnay. "Okay, so what is the deal with you two? Any dick stuff going on?" Mac focused on Parker and Lilly as they both drank from their own wine glasses. Parker nearly choked on the liquid and Mac could see Lilly have trouble not spitting it out as she snorted with laughter. Veronica pressed her lips together and tried not to laugh.

* * *

~Weevil~

The only one at this table that he, currently, had anything to relate to about was Piz. How ridiculous was that? Three of guys had been in relationships for at least the last year and Duncan was all about his daughter. And Parker Lee from the looks of things the last two weeks.

"So you dating Parker, man?" Weevil asked as they all sat on the couch, watching some action movie that Dick kept saying was 'totally awesome'. So far it had been all explosions and car chases.

"Yeah, I've been wondering that myself. You finally get up the nerve to ask her out?" Logan asked, causing everyone to turn and look at Duncan.

"No." Duncan answered simply, still staring at the screen.

"When you gonna get on that, dude?" Logan pressed. Piz and Wallace had turned back to the television, but Weevil could see that they were both completely invested in the conversation.

"Wait. You have a thing for Parker?" Dick asked before picking up his beer and downing it as quickly as he could.

"Why do you all think I have a thing for Parker? We're just friends." Duncan insisted and Weevil got the impression that this conversation had happened between him and Logan before.

"Are you guys like, _friends_ friends or, you know, just friends?" Weevil asked, causing a round of laughter to go through the group while Duncan rolled his eyes.

"Just friends." Duncan said definitively.

"Dunc, dude, I'm so glad you do not have a thing for Parker." Dick sunk back into the couch and popped the top off another beer.

"What's wrong with Parker? She's beautiful, fun, perky, sweet. You'd be lucky to get a girl like Parker." Logan told Duncan, suddenly seeming offended by Duncan's lack of interest in his ex-girlfriend.

"Why do you care so much that I don't want to date Parker?" Duncan asked, scowling at his best friend and Weevil couldn't help but chuckle at them. Constantly chasing the same girls. If it weren't for the fact that Lilly was Duncan's sister they'd probably both be chasing after her too.

Weevil felt the odd kick of pain and regret at the thought of Lilly. It'd been two weeks since they'd slept together and he'd never bothered to call her. He'd thought about it. A lot. Obsessed about it for a week before she finally called him and left a voicemail. Then another call, her asking him to please call back because this was not how things were supposed to happen, when you slept with a girl you were supposed to call her back. In the third voicemail he could hear her barely contained fury as she told him to call her back because this was getting ridiculous and that she was not used to having to being ignored. He'd considered calling her back then, wanting to avoid a _Fatal Attraction_ situation. Her fourth voicemail had been livid, her screaming into the phone before insisting that she wouldn't be calling again, that she got the picture but if he thought he could call her now then he had another thing coming.

"Yeah, he doesn't like her so what? Who cares? Move on." Dick said, sitting up and looking worriedly between Logan and Duncan. They both gave Dick an odd look at his interruption before getting back to the topic.

"I like Parker, she's become one of my closest friends. Probably my best friend at this point. I just don't see her that way." Duncan explained.

"So what? I've been demoted? I'm no longer the best friend?" Logan complained, sitting back in the couch somewhat petulantly.

"No, you're my brother. You're my brother, Lilly and Veronica are my sisters and Parker is my best friend. We're all family. Could you drop it now?" Duncan asked, exasperation pulsating from is voice and tone.

"So, you're definitely not into Parker?" Dick asked.

"No, but I'm starting to think you might be." Duncan commented, turning his attention onto Dick.

"I kind of set Parker up with Casey at the party a couple weeks ago. According to Mac, she and Lilly went on a double date with him and one of his friends from LA last weekend and then Parker went out with just him a couple days ago. Apparently they hit it off, according to Lilly." Dick explained.

"So is Lilly dating this friend of Casey's?" Duncan asked and Weevil felt himself lean a little, trying to concentrate on Dick's answer without seeming too interested.

"No, she just went out with him to help Parker out. I can't imagine him wanting a second date anyway, she's been pretty pissy the last couple of weeks. Flies off the handle for no reason." Dick was, apparently, a wealth of information when it came to the girls.

"No kidding, she's been freaking out on us about everything lately. Cleaning our rooms and the kitchen. Freaks about the dishes every other day and, yesterday, she literally gave me a lecture about the vacuum." Piz complained as he lifted his beer and turned back to the movie.

"We gonna play some poker? Or are we gonna sit here and gossip like a bunch of girls?" Weevil asked. He didn't need to hear about Lilly's bad moods or her dates.

* * *

~Parker~

"Well, we went out in San Diego. He made reservations at this really nice restaurants. You know, the kind where you walk in and you automatically think that you're not going to understand anything on the menu or feel like you belong at all." Parker sat with her legs bent underneath her, gesturing wildly as she described her date with Casey on Tuesday. "So I sit down and open the menu and it's like gourmet burgers and stuff. It was great, they had this great baked mac-n-cheese with gouda and jalapeños. It was amazing. He got these sliders and fries with truffle oil and, like, mango ketchup. We shared. It was semi-romantic without being too over the top. Then we went to this old theater where they show old black and white movies. Best date ever."

"Sounds like it. Also sounds like you really like Casey." Mac commented as she dug into her soy ice cream. "What kind of ice cream are you eating?"

"Lavender and Honey. Lilly and I picked up a bunch of flavors at that health food place near campus. We only got you the strawberry soy though, since it's your favorite." Parker explained, suddenly feeling bad that they'd only gotten one flavor for Mac. "Sorry."

"It's not a big deal. Can I have some of that?" Mac asked, sliding her bowl across the coffee table towards Parker.

"Sure." It wasn't a big deal to share her ice cream with Mac – Lilly and Veronica's spoons kept dipping in without even asking – it was more the fact that her previously strictly vegan friend was asking for non-soy ice cream. And meaty pizza. "You feeling okay Macky?"

"I'm fine. I've just been craving weird stuff. Like cheeseburgers and ice cream. Last week Dick was barbequing, made himself a steak and a garden burger for me but I ate half his steak for some reason. He ended up putting another one on the grill because he won't eat my garden burgers. Can barely handle cooking them."

"That's weird." Veronica commented, pulling her mint chocolate chip a little closer and eying Lilly's Honeysuckle ice cream.

"I know. I can't remember the last time I had meat other than the last week." Mac agreed, nodding as she dug into her bowl of Lavender and Honey ice cream.

"No, I meant the fact that Dick cooks." Veronica clarified, causing the group of girls to burst into laughter and forget the topic of Mac's cravings. At least temporarily.

"So, just to clarify, you're not into Duncan, right?" Lilly asked her.

"No, I'm not into Duncan." Parker told Lilly – and the other girls – firmly. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about it, because she had, it was her reaction to the thought of it that made her so sure that she wasn't into Duncan.

Duncan was her best friend and, okay, they hadn't had the most traditional of friendships so far. They've only known each other a little over a year and almost all that time was spent with him in prison, but they'd gotten close over that time. She went to visit him every other week, writing him letters every other day. At first she was just updating him on the happenings within the group, feeling bad that he had to miss out on yet another year of life with his friends, but he'd started writing her back. He commented on their friends at first – mostly Lilly's struggle with staying single and celibate – but then it got more personal and they'd opened up to each other. She told him things she couldn't say to her roommates and he told her what it was like to be on the run for almost two years and what it was like being away from his daughter. What it was like growing up with Veronica and Logan and Lilly and then what it was like when Lilly went into the coma. How he felt during those last three years of high school without his sister and the mess that followed with Veronica and Logan. She knew more about her two friends than they knew and she knew how uncomfortable that would make them.

Dating never, officially, came up between them. He asked about who she was seeing and she had always been honest with him about it. From the small fling she and Piz had shared around Christmas last year – and how they ended it without anyone ever finding out that it had ever happened – to the tiny relationship she'd shared with a guy in her statistics class that turned out to be the biggest jerk after she told him that she'd been raped. He had never seemed jealous or upset about any of it, joking about how he had blackmail material when it came to Piz and comforting her the best he could with his words when it came to the other one. When he'd gotten back things hadn't seemed to change between them, they still shared and talked about everything. He talked about how his mother was starting to push Shelly Pomroy at him again and she talked about her date with Casey. If he had ever thought about them dating it had never come up.

"I'm just checking, because you guys seem to spend a lot of time together and I don't want you starting with baby brother _and_ Casey. He might seem pretty tough, but baby bro can be pretty sensitive." Lilly told her voice deceptively light and Parker knew the warning sign. She was about to get the big sister/friend speech. "He doesn't really understand the casual dating thing. And he's a good guy, so if there's any chance that he thinks that there's something going on between the two of you, you better set it straight before he gets hurt. Because if he gets hurt? I will have to kill you."

Parker nodded, smiling at Lilly's cold and serious tone. There were many things that Lilly Kane was, not all of them good, but the one thing she never got wrong is her role as big sister. Lilly often said that Veronica was her sister and Parker knew that Veronica thought the same of Lilly. They both took their roles as 'sister' so seriously and Parker found herself jealous of it at times. "Don't worry, Lil. Duncan knows there's nothing going on. I actually told him all about my solo date with Casey."

"Okay, well if he–" Lilly started.

Mac interrupted Lilly with a groan and rushing off to the bathroom, her right hand pressed to her mouth.

"Do you think she's okay?" Parker asked, worriedly eying the bathroom door as she heard Mac's moan of "Oh God".

"Actually–" Lilly started but was cut off by a stern look from Veronica as she got up to check on the only brunette in the group.

"Actually what?" Parker whispered, leaning in close to the older girl and keeping her eye on the bathroom door.

"Actually I think Mac has a very specific type of flu." Lilly whispered back, smiling a little.

"Oh no, you think she's contagious?" Parker asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember if she had shared her water glass with Mac at any point that night.

"Nope." Lilly answered before holding a finger to her lips as Veronica came back to them, taking her place on the floor again.

"She says she's fine, her stomach has just been kind of weird the last couple of days." Veronica tucked her hair behind her ears and turned back to Parker. "So, aside from the absolutely perfect date, what do you think about Casey?"

"Well, he lives in Los Angeles so that's not exactly ideal, but he makes it down to Neptune a lot. Almost every weekend he said, but it still provides a whole logistical problem. The best thing about having a boyfriend is the day to day stuff where you get to spend time just hanging out and being comfortable with each other. If he's in LA during the week, then how are we supposed to get to that? There's only so much that can be done over the phone." Parker explained, setting her bowl of ice cream on the coffee table and leaning back against the couch.

"Never underestimate the value of phone sex." Lilly told her with complete seriousness.

"Okay… I wasn't talking about sex stuff, I was talking about that stuff that makes you a couple. The hand holding, the sitting on the couch and watching random shows, meeting in between classes or for lunch. I mean, I want something like you and Logan." Parker gestured to Veronica and watched her grimace.

"You don't want what Logan and I had at the beginning. We live together now but it's taken a lot to get here. Logan and I were a disaster in the beginning… and remained that way for a couple of years." Veronica said, her hands nervously smoothing out a non-existent wrinkle in the couch cushions. "I mean, we hated each other for a year, dated for, like, a month and then spent the next nine battling before getting back together. And you were there for the mess that was freshman year."

Parker nodded and blushed, remembering their first year at college and the constant drama that played out between the couple. She and Piz had both been casualties in the fire storm that was Logan and Veronica's relationship. Everything had worked out and they were all friends now, but things had gotten bad for a while and the couple had basically gone nuclear at the end of that school year.

"It took that whole summer for Logan and I to start talking, and being friends, again. We're not exactly the ideal relationship model." Veronica finished, scooping a chunk of ice cream into her mouth.

"Okay, I don't want your exact relationship, but I wouldn't mind ending up in the same place as you guys. You're living together, completely at ease with each other. You have that intimacy that you can only get when you're with the other person on a daily basis." Parker expounded, trying to get her point across a little better. No one in their right mind would base their relationship on Logan and Veronica's. They were amazing together, almost scarily in tune with each other and, if you got on their bad side, just plain scary. She'd heard Logan call them epic once and she had to agree that it was an apt description of the two but, on the other hand, the way they got to this point didn't sound fun or amazing. It sounded hard and heartbreaking and tragic. "I'm just not going to get that if I'm seeing someone who lives in another part of the state. He'll only be around for big things. I can tell him about my day over the phone and everything but don't most relationships end up long distance? They don't usually start that way."

"Parker, if you like Casey, have fun with him, then you focus on that instead of the stuff that hasn't happened yet." Lilly told her. "If you like him and he likes you back and you can have at least a little time together then it's worth it, isn't it? I mean, it's more than some people get because some people like guys who don't even call them back or even like them, they get themselves involved with a guy that doesn't feel the same and have to suffer through it because they weren't lucky enough to like a guy who liked them back and wanted to make an effort to be with them."

Parker and Veronica stared at Lilly for a moment while she fidgeted, avoiding their shocked looks. Parker turned and watched Mac come out of the bathroom, giving Lilly a moment to gather herself, but she heard Veronica whisper "Are you okay?"

* * *

~Dick~

He sat at the table without a single chip in his pile and watched as pile of chips transferred back and forth between Weevil and Logan, hand after hand. It was the same amount of money and this game was going to go on forever if they didn't do something different soon.

"Could one of you just take a risk and end it? The suspense is killing me." Duncan complained, leaning back in his chair and shoving oreos in his mouth. Duncan had lost all his money before Dick but after Piz and had been sitting there for over an hour, bored but still sitting there. Wallace had cashed out with sixty bucks to his pile and handed the cash to Logan before heading out. He said something about Tami not making it to girls night but he was going to swing by her place anyway and hang out for a bit. Dick had made a joke, asking if that's what the kids call it nowadays but Wallace had either ignored him or didn't hear it as he left the house. Piz had stayed to finish the movie from earlier before heading back to the 'big house' but he was now snoring on the couch and the television screen was playing the DVD menu over and over.

"I just learning his tells, figuring out his style and then I'll strike." Logan told Duncan, waving off his complaints.

"Piz! Wake up, your snoring is throwin off my game!" Weevil shouted and they all heard Piz let out a loud snort and then silence.

"I wasn't sleepin." Piz said in a scratchy voice and they all laughed at the absurdity.

"No man, everyone saws logs when they're awake." Duncan joked.

"So I'm going to ask Mac to move in with me tomorrow." Dick stated. It was out of no where but there hadn't been a good point to bring it up during the game and he needed advice.

"Finally." Logan remarked as he threw a chip into the center of the table and then popped an actual chip into his mouth.

"What do you mean finally?" Dick asked, looking at his best friend in shock. He didn't remember telling Logan about his plans but then again that didn't mean all that much. He didn't remember a lot of things half the time and then it would hit him in the middle of the night and he'd have this big 'a-ha' moment. Usually Mac told him to write it down so he wouldn't forget again and then go back to sleep.

"I mean that you told Veronica you were going to ask her two weeks ago and she's been annoying the hell out of me about when you were going to do it. She's been having a particularly difficult time keeping it from Mac." Logan told him as he flipped his cards over and the chips slid back to Weevil. Logan kept his focus on Dick as Duncan gathered the cards to shuffle and deal.

"I thought Veronica was good at keeping secrets." Dick commented, leaning back in his chair and pick his cigar up from the ashtray and putting it back in his mouth. It was half gone, mostly because it had been sitting in the ashtray all night, but he needed something to do.

"No, Veronica is good at discovering secrets. Usually her habit is to ferret out the secret, do all her sleuthing and then a big reveal. She's not used to having the secret handed to her and then being forced to keep it for any length of time." Logan explained, making his bet without even looking at his cards. Dick hated when he did that.

"I thought she had to keep all kinds of secrets with the detective thing." Duncan commented as he flipped cards over.

"Yeah, she does but that's client confidentiality stuff, she always gets to tell someone the results of her sleuthing. Usually she gets to tell the person the secret is about and she always tells her friends whenever she discovers a secret about them. Do you know how long she waited to tell Mac about the baby switch thing after she found out? About an hour." Logan lost another hand and his pile was now the smallest it had been all night, another hand and Weevil could win the $3,000 pot. "Damn."

"Learning my tells were you? Learned my style did you?" Weevil gloated as he slid the chips into his pile, sounding rather gleeful as he chomped down on his second cigar.

"Whatever. So I need some advice on how to ask her. How did you do it?" Dick asked, his chin in his hands, elbows braced on the table.

"I didn't really do a whole proposal thing really. We went out to dinner and I made a comment about the fact that her roommates never see her, she said something about paying a ridiculous amount of rent for a room she never sees and then I asked her to just officially move in. I told her I wanted her there all the time and I hated the nights she stayed at the big house. She moved in a week later."

"So that was it?" Dick asked, still not feeling very at ease with the task at hand. It sounded easy but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be so easy for him.

"Well, I asked Keith's permission first, which was the hard part. I mean, I pretty much Veronica would want to move in because she was basically living with me already. All her stuff was already at my place and she hated paying rent at the big house when she was never there. The rent wasn't that bad, and the other bills weren't bad because they split it between the four of them, but it's a lot to pay for someplace you only sleep about a week each month." Logan glanced at his cards and placed a bet. Weevil called and Logan went all in before turning his gaze back on Dick.

"Do I have to ask her dad? Because I asked Veronica and she's way more scary than Mac's dad." Dick squirmed in his seat at the thought of asking someone else for permission. He'd had to work up the nerve to talk to Veronica about it for nearly three weeks before he finally did it.

"It's not like it's traditional to ask a father's permission before shacking up with his daughter. I mean, Emily Post didn't really cover it but Keith has a shotgun and would know how to hide a body. Then again, you know how protective Veronica is of her friends and if anyone knew how to make a murder look like an accident it would be Veronica." He lost the hand and the rest of the money slid over to Weevil's side of the table. Weevil rubbed his hands together and started making stacks.

Logan grabbed the chip case and opened the lid, pulling the rolled wad of cash out and flipping it to Weevil.

"You know, no matter how many times we do these poker nights I still kind of expect for it to be like that first time and the money to be gone." Weevil remarked as he pushed the money into his pocket and started separating the chips into piles.

"Yeah, well I'm glad stripping down to our boxers isn't part of the poker night tradition," Duncan commented as he piled the cards together and put them back into their box.

"So how are you planning on doing it?" Logan asked, getting up from the table to flop on the couch across from Piz. Dick followed him, dropping down next to Piz who looked to be on the verge of sleep again.

"I was thinking a nice dinner. Maybe the Americana place that just opened in town, I heard their steaks are really good. Mac practically inhaled my steak last week so I thought she might like it there. We'd get dessert and then I'd ask her. You know her stuff has slowly made it's way over here since I got the place. I think she has more clothes in my closet than I do."

"That sounds like a good plan." Logan agreed before heaving himself off the couch. "Piz, why don't I drop you off at the house? You don't look like you'll stay awake long enough to make the drive."

"Sure."

Then they were gone and Weevil left a few minutes later. Duncan stayed to help clean up, which Dick was grateful for because the maid wouldn't be here again until Monday and Mac didn't appreciate the mess. Always saying that she doesn't clean and she doesn't cook and she's not some desperate housewife type. She makes the bed, that's it, and only if he's out of bed before her.

"I'll see you later, Dick." Duncan said as he made his way to the door. "And don't worry, tomorrow will go great. She'll say yes."

God, he hoped so.

* * *

~Lilly~

Veronica was watching her and Parker was watching Mac and this evening of fun had quickly gotten way more serious than it was supposed to be.

"What?" She burst out, Veronica's intense gaze finally getting to her. It was that look that she had come to call the 'tell me stare' and Lilly was powerless to resist. This time it had worked without the head tilt, which meant that Lilly was becoming more vulnerable to her tactics instead of building up some sort of tolerance. _Crap_.

"I just know you're hiding something and the last time you had a secret it didn't exactly turn out well." Veronica told her and Lilly resisted rolling her eyes. _How long was that going to be the go to joke?_

"Alright, well, two weeks ago I kind of hooked up with someone." Lilly hedged and she saw the timing click in her friends' heads.

"Two weeks ago? Like during Duncan's party?" Parker asked, her brows pinching together in thought as she mentally tried to go through all the guys that had been at the party. It wasn't possible, there'd been tons of potential guys there, but she knew that Parker would try anyway.

"Hooked up as in a one time thing or is something that is ongoing? Or _was_ ongoing?" Mac questioned sipping on a bottle of water.

"Who?" Of course it was Veronica that asked the most important question. She wasn't about to reveal that she had broken down and slept with Weevil.

It hadn't been on purpose, she hadn't planned it at all. She'd been standing in the line for the bathroom, considering sneaking upstairs to use the one in Logan and Veronica's bedroom, when she spotted him. He hadn't picked up one of the striped shirts that were piled next to the door after she'd gotten tired of manning the door and handing them out. He didn't see her watching him but he had moved in her direction nonetheless. She took that as a sign and stepped out of line to talk to him, it's not like she actually had to pee. She just wanted to check her make up and make sure everything was holding up after six hours of partying and about five hours of set up before that.

The talking had been fine and the friendship they'd forced was finally easing into something comfortable. Why she had to mess it up, lead him somewhere deserted and kiss him, she didn't know. She couldn't tell if it was some destructive streak that she had – doing the things she shouldn't just because she could – or if was some chemical thing and she would never be able to resist him. She could have stopped there, she knows that, but the spicy taste of him pushed her over the edge into that hazy place where she jumps into things without thinking but rationalizing that it would all work out. She'd done it every time she broke up with Logan in high school, every wild thing she did, when she hopped in bed with Aaron. She rationalized that it would work out and everything would be fine, that the look on her mother's face was worth the scandal and everything she went through to get there. The latter was the reasoning she used for sleeping with Weevil in high school and the former was the reasoning she used now. It'd work out. They'll be fine.

The sex had seemed more intense than it was in high school and she'd lain awake afterwards trying to rationalize that, to figure out why. She hadn't come up with anything good. The only thing that kept coming up was the word love, but she'd kicked that last year when they'd gotten back from the cabin, but she kept coming back to it and she couldn't ignore that. She'd gotten up early and drove home, crawling into bed for a couple hours before she and Parker had to head back over to Veronica's to clean up from the party. She'd left a note though, because just sneaking out of his house, and bed, at five in the morning seemed too walk of shame. Too meaningless.

She waited a week for him to call, tethered to her phone every waking moment just in case he called. The first thing she did in the morning was check her voicemail, just in case he called after his shift at the school. By the following week she had decided that waiting by the phone was a little too pathetic for her so _she_ called _him_. The first voicemail hadn't been a big deal, just her asking him to call her whenever. She'd expected him to return it an hour or two later. Twenty-four hours later and she made another call, told him that proper protocol said that he should have called her by now. Sleeping together meant a phone call within seventy-two hours. He still didn't call and the third voicemail she called him out on avoiding her, but she kept her anger out of it, just let him know that it was getting ridiculous and she wasn't used to being ignored, especially after the night they'd had. He didn't call back and it was his third strike, but she had enough anger to ignore the fact that she should ignore him and she called him once more. She hadn't been able to contain her rage this time and she shouted into the phone about what a jerk move it was to ignore a girl after sleeping with her. She ended the call yelling at him, screaming at him, to not bother calling now. Three strikes and you're out, buddy, so don't call. It wouldn't matter anyway because this was it, his last shot and he blew it.

"Just some guy. It wasn't really during the party, it was more at the end of it, around one. We left and went to his place, so don't worry Veronica, I didn't defile one of your guest bedrooms." Lilly answered each of their questions, taking a moment to think the answers through before to make sure it didn't reveal who it was she'd slept with. "And it was only the one time, but not by my choice. He never called me and, after waiting a week, I called him a couple times but he still didn't call me back."

"Wait. You called him?" Veronica asked. "A couple times?"

"I know, pathetic right? Like a week's worth of silence wasn't enough I had to basically phone stalk him and still nothing. I practically begged him to call me in the first two voicemails."

"The first two?" Parker asked, her eyes taking on that pitying look that Lilly had always hated. She'd never really deserved the look before but she'd always hated it. She had seen how everyone had given it to Veronica after her and the Donut's non-breakup. How everyone had looked at Logan each and every time they'd had one of those über public breakup scenes in the quad, when she'd been as cruel as possible to see how far she could push him before he no longer came crawling back. The looks her mother's friends gave her mother at the club every time Lilly did something to embarrass the family. God, she hated that look and the fact that it might make her like her mother in any way.

"Well, I called him a couple more times after that, but I wasn't so pathetic then. I kind of raged a bit and told him not to bother calling me because he'd lost his chance. I mean, I really liked him so I was hoping we could relay it into some kind of relationship, but obviously that won't be happening." Lilly, fell back against the cushions behind her. "It was only the one night, but we'd had a little something before but it was just, kind of, a fling. I thought that we might be able to have something more than a fling or one night stand now, that maybe we were kind of ready for it, for each other. I guess not."

She'd said too much. She could see that much in the narrowing of Veronica's eyes, even though Parker and Mac both seemed oblivious to it. But she could see Veronica gearing up and their obliviousness wasn't likely to last. "You had something before? A fling? When?" Veronica asked and, by her tone, Lilly recognized the interrogation of the questions.

"A while ago, and no we didn't tell anyone because it was a _fling_." She knew Veronica wouldn't accept those answers at face value. Especially since she'd been so vague on the timing, but she'd never really been able to flat out lie to Veronica. She hadn't been able to lie before, even when a lie might have been kinder, just put her off a little and then distract. This Veronica wasn't like the one she'd left behind all those years ago, before comas and murders and cheating had changed her, this Veronica wasn't easily distracted from a mystery. Although, by the look in her best friend's eyes, this wasn't really a mystery.

"A while ago? Couldn't have been too long. You've only been awake for a year and, unless I'm mistaken, you've only been dating the last six or seven months. Unless you cheated on your vow of celibacy and snuck around without letting any of us know, even though we all lived in the same house." Veronica prodded and Lilly cringed at the wording. She couldn't say that she hadn't cheated because she'd been cheating on Logan the when she had 'dated' Weevil. If she was more specific about the timing she'd tip off the others, at least Mac if not Parker, and they'd all long ago discussed how bad of an idea dating Weevil would be.

"It was a while ago okay? That's not the point." Lilly practically growled in frustration.

"Okay, then what _is_ the point, Lilly?" Veronica asked and Lilly could see her backing off a little, but she could also see the look in her eyes. The look that said it this discussion wasn't over, just postponed.

"The point is that I still kind of want him to call, but it would be kind of insulting at this point. And if he does call should I give him a shot? Or should I been even angrier because he obviously didn't respect my wishes when I told him not to call that last time? Adult relationships are harder than high school when you have to see them every day and him not calling isn't really a big deal because you have this class or something where you can corner each other. It sucks." Lilly complained.

"I think that you should ignore him, if he wants you he'll make the effort to get passed that and get you to forgive him. If not, then he's not worth it and he should be ignored anyway." Parker advised, her head nodding at the finality of it.

"Agreed." Mac said, pressing her hand to her stomach before continuing. "And, if we're done, I think I need to head home. I'm beyond exhausted and my stomach is still a little iffy. Probably from eating all the milk products and stuff."

"Okay, I'm ready too. You came with Lilly didn't you? You can ride home with me if you want." Parker offered, standing and then helping Mac to her feet. Lilly wondered if Mac really thought it was the food or something else and didn't want to admit it.

"Sure, you mind dropping me off at Dick's though? I kind of promised I'd stay there tonight, and my car's still there anyway." Mac asked as she headed up the stairs. Lilly heard Parker's muffled 'sure' and then a few minutes later the front door opened and shut.

"So, do you think she's pregnant?" Lilly asked, hoping that it would distract Veronica from the earlier topic of exactly who she had slept with.

"Kind of. So you slept with Weevil?" Apparently Veronica was not going to let it go at all. She was like a tiny pit-bull, once she locked onto something she'd never let go until she was satisfied she had the answers. All the answers.

Lilly's had drifted over the puppy and he snorted a little in his sleep. "Yeah. Exactly what was it that I said that tipped you off?"

"You said it was 'just some guy' but then you called him. He was important enough to call so you'd have to know his name and number. He was important enough to name, unless divulging that name would open up a whole bunch of different issues. Then the whole thing about you having a fling a while ago and then I knew." Veronica explained, getting up to gather spoons, cartons of ice cream and half empty pizza boxes.

"I probably should have known I couldn't fool you, not anymore at least. But, I didn't really want to admit to everyone, and myself, that I had tried and failed with Eli Navarro. Again. It's a little embarrassing." Lilly stood to help her friend and tried not to disturb the sleeping puppy. He'd finally settled down and there's was no need to wake him and unleash his terror upon them once more.

"Not really. Nobody here would have done anything, except maybe some good old fashioned man-bashing. And don't think that I couldn't participate in that too, because Logan does some things that just annoy the hell out of me." Veronica set the pizza on the kitchen counter and stuck the ice cream in the freezer.

"Yeah, I know but it's different. You're guy bashing from a different place than me. You and Mac are in these deep, intense relationships. You and Logan are practically married these days and Mac is probably going to move in with Dick and have a baby and they'll get married. Dick probably annoys Mac to no end with some things but, she still loves him and he loves her back and, ultimately, they're happy. Then there's Parker who, whether she admits it or not, is in that lovely new relationship place. She might talk a big game about not wanting the long distance thing, but when she actually is around Casey she just glows. You're all happy and the only other people in the group that's relationship-free are Piz and the Donut." Lilly complained as she watched Veronica get out the plastic wrap and start to arrange the different kinds of pizza on plates.

Veronica nodded, looking up with sympathy in her eyes. Lilly couldn't decide if sympathy was worse than pity or not.

"And Duncan doesn't really care about the whole dating thing. He's got the munchkin and he's getting ready to start at Hearst in January. He's been so busy taking his general courses online he'll be almost a full year a head of me when he starts. And I can't exactly commiserate with Piz. He doesn't really seem to care all that much about not having a girlfriend. I think, since he moved into the house, he's had one girl over and I'm not even sure if it was a romantic situation or if they really were studying."

"Lilly…" Veronica said, her voice soft.

"And Tamsin practically lives with us too, she's down in Wallace's room so often. She even has her own kind of cereal in the cupboard and she helps him do all his grocery shopping. Last week, she did her laundry there." Tamsin's constant presence had been getting more and more annoying, but Lilly was pretty sure she was the only one that felt that way. Mac wasn't home enough to care, Parker and her were yoga buddies and she sang with Piz's band sometimes.

"I think you should try dating one of the hundreds of guys that hit on you at school. I mean, you're always getting asked out by guys after class and stuff, you should take one of them up on it. Go out and have fun and maybe you'll get over Weevil and fall for someone else. This whole thing with him, it's not good for either of you if all you're doing is hurting each other." Veronica suggested, walking around the kitchen island to sit on the stool next to her.

"I just thought, that maybe, after everything that's happened that maybe I could have one little thing. For a spoiled little rich girl I don't seem to get what I want very often." Lilly sighed as she leaned her head against Veronica's shoulder. "I miss having you at the house."

"I kind of miss being in the big house, with all my best girl friends right down the hall. The easy access to Mac and her computer genius. Parker's insta-perk, guaranteed to help your bad mood. And you, right there, my best friend, basically back from the dead and there for me again. It was great that we got to live together for a little while, I was without you for so long it was great to just get to be around you." Veronica leaned her own head against Lilly's and they sat there for a moment, probably looking like a scene out of some old lifetime movie. Lilly didn't care, she just relaxed into the comfort of a best friend that was more like a sister to her, and took comfort in the fact that Veronica would always be on her side. No matter how wrong she might be, Veronica would always be right there.

"Oh God, it's almost one in the morning." Veronica muttered as she pulled away and continued putting the food away. Lilly watched for a few moments more before sliding away from the breakfast bar and back onto her feet.

"I'm going to head out, head home." She stood next to Veronica and the idea of leaving made it feel like a lead weight was pressing down on her stomach.

"Are you sure? You could stay the night here, in one of the guest rooms. Borrow some pjs and just crawl into one of those big beds. I'll make pancakes in the morning and, depending how hung-over Logan is, we can blare music and watch him freak out while trying not to vomit, it's kind of funny." Veronica's offer was just what she wanted, to stay in the fantasy world of Veronica's house for a little while longer. If she could just stay here then Veronica would protect her and she wouldn't have to deal with Weevil or the fact that she was all alone in a sea of friends in relationships.

"Thanks. You want any help with this stuff?" Lilly offered, suddenly exhausted and longing for a bed and blankets and the oblivion of sleep.

"No, you go up to bed. I'm just going to put this away and then leave the mess for tomorrow, maybe try and talk Logan into cleaning it up." Veronica's voice was soft and Lilly nodded as she turned to head upstairs. She'd grab some pajamas from Veronica's room, change and crawl into bed.

* * *

~Logan~

He whistled as he came into the dark house. He'd lost a thousand dollars and had, somehow, gotten involved in some debate over Lilly's potential love interest with Parker when he dropped Piz off, but somehow he still was in a good mood at two in the morning. He sniffed his shirt as he picked his way through his bedroom, trying desperately not to step on the dog. He wreaked of cigars, so it was a shower first and then bed.

Logan flipped on the bathroom light and saw Ares' little eyes blinking up at him from near the bottom of the bed. He got up, stretched and then trotted out of the bedroom to go find somewhere else to sleep. Barely bigger than one of Logan's shoes and he was protecting Veronica while she slept, until Logan got home. He continue his whistling as he undressed and hopped into the shower, not bothering to shut the bathroom door.

He washed his hair and body quickly before getting out and drying off as fast as possibly. His whistling fading out as he busied himself with rubbing at his head with one of the big fluffy white towels Veronica had insisted on. He didn't bother with clothes and left his towels flung over the top of the shower door. Veronica would yell at him for that in the morning, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Lilly's staying over so walking around nude probably isn't the best idea." Veronica's voice came from a mass of blankets and pillows. Logan considered just jumping on the bed and dislodging her from her cocoon right away but he had to detour around the bed to shut the door anyway. He didn't particularly want an audience while he put the moves on his girlfriend.

He shut the door as quietly as he could, cringing at the squeak the hinges gave about midway through. He'd have to figure out to oil those… or get Veronica to do it. He ran and jumped on his side of the bed and watched Veronica, and all of the bedding, bouce.

"I hate you." She complained her back resolutely to him.

"Why are you still awake?" He asked as he slid und the covers and slid her closer to him. Unfortunately she had dressed for bed in a pair of shorts and a tank top so when her backside came into contact with his front he didn't get that delightful feel of skin on skin. He'd have to fix that.

"_Someone_ decided to bless me with an impromptu, _off-key_ concert at two in the morning." She complained, still stubbornly unmoved, even as he rotated his hips a little.

"I was not off-key." He gasped in mock offense, his hands snaking around her middle and pulling her tighter against him. His fingers toyed with the hem of her tank top, threatening to lift it, and he pressed kisses to her bare shoulder.

"Whatever. How are things with the guys?" She was, apparently, going to make him work a little harder tonight.

"Good. Dick's going to ask Mac to move in tomorrow night. He's going to take her out for steak, which I thought was weird because I've never seen her eat so much as a pepperoni and apparently now she's eating steak. Oh, and Parker told me that Lilly's hooking up with someone, but she won't say who."

"Thank God. I was starting to think that he just told me he was going to ask her to torture me. Or to see exactly how long I can keep something like that a secret. Two weeks is stretching it by the way, do you know how many times I almost blurted it out tonight? Many times." Veronica didn't have to tell him how much keeping this secret from her friend had frustrated her, at least not again. He'd had to hear all about it every night for the last two weeks.

"And the Lilly thing?" Logan pressed, suddenly curious. If there was anyone that Lilly would have spilled to it was Veronica.

"Weevil. Don't say anything to anyone though because she feels kind of ridiculous about it. They hooked up the night of Duncan's party and he never called her back. She called him a couple of times, said she begged him to call her but I kind of think she's making it worse than it really was. Either way, Weevil blew her off and she's pretty upset about it." Veronica squirmed a little and he let out a grown.

"Is this something where I need beat Weev's ass or are you going to frame him for something. Granted he'd just call you to get him out anyway." Logan slipped his fingers into her waistband and gave a little tug, lowering both shorts and panties a couple inches.

"What are you doing?" Veronica questioned, the annoyance not quite holding in her voice.

"Trying to get in your pants. Now, what do I do about this Weevil thing? Ass kicking or frame job?" He wrenched her top up a little as she turned in his arms. He lowered himself to kiss her stomach, positioning his body between her legs.

"Neither. She doesn't want us to do anything. She probably doesn't even want you to know and I shouldn't have told you but…" She trailed off as he hitched her top higher, over her breasts and he kissed his way up to a nipple, letting his mouth close over it. He grinned at her low moan and the way her body arched slightly beneath him.

"Okay." The word was muffled by her breast, causing him to smile again. Her legs rose up to wrap around his waist and her hands slid into his hair.

"We won't do anything and you won't say anything about it to her. And don't encourage her on the Mac thing tomorrow at breakfast either." Her hands left his hair for a moment to pull her tank top off and then slid back in.

He backed off a little to blow air on her nipple before moving over to her right breast. "What Mac thing? She doesn't Mac to move in with Dick?" His voice was low and gruff as he asked and then his mouth closed over her breast.

"No," she moaned out, arching into him. "Its not… not that… she thinks… thinks Mac is pregnant."

Logan released her breast with a pop, leaning back to look his girlfriend in the face. She let out a groan of disappointment. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Why'd you stop?" The annoyance was creeping back into her voice.

"You just said one of our friends is pregnant." He pointed out, reaching out to flip on the bedside lamp on her side. Veronica blinked at the sudden brightness and he squinted at her through the sudden glare.

"No, I said Lilly thinks one of our friends is pregnant." Veronica clarified, sliding back on the bed to sit against the headboard.

"So she's not pregnant." Logan nodded with certainty and then pulled her shorts and underwear off. His relief was short lived however.

"No, she totally is."

"She told you?" He readjusted himself until he was sitting between her legs, his own folded up underneath him.

"Not so much, but when she was throwing up in the bathroom tonight she said that she'd been getting sick off and on for the last couple weeks. Coupled with the fact that she's craving meat and milk products… I think it's a pretty safe bet that she is though." Veronica explained.

"So she just thinks she is?"

"I don't think she has even thought about it."

"So just you and Lilly think she's pregnant." He thought it over and wondered how girls could know something like that about someone else before they did. Especially Veronica, she always seemed to know more about someone than they knew about themselves. It wasn't always a bad thing, but it could get annoying sometimes.

"Yeah, basically."

"So you guys could be wrong?" He was hopeful, but if they weren't wrong it wasn't quite as big a tragedy as it could be. Not like with Duncan and Meg.

"Maybe, but I don't think we are. I just don't want Lilly telling Mac, because if Mac hasn't thought about the possibility yet then she's not really ready to handle it yet." Veronica reached for him and he let himself be pulled down on top of her.

"Do you think they'll be able to handle it?" Logan wondered out loud as Veronica kissed her way down his neck.

"I don't know, Logan." She let out a huff of annoyance as she flopped back into her pillow. "Could we not talk about it anymore?" She pressed her mouth to his and he sank into the kiss for a moment before pulling back.

"It's just that… you're not shocked or surprised or anything?" He looked at her, confused about her reaction. He expected her to at least _act_ surprised it. Annoyed. Worried, whatever.

"I've had a couple hours with it. I was surprised earlier, but right now I'm trying to finish what you started." She reached down and gripped him, giving him a little tug just to make sure she had erased his mind of all else.

"Okay, but we're using a condom tonight." He choked out, but he was already sliding into her.

Veronica arched up against him, her legs and arms wrapping around him as she let out a long, low moan. "Whatever you say, baby."

* * *

**A/N:** This was also a long one, so let me know what you all think...


	42. 39 Three

**Title:** The Return 39-Three  
**Rating:** R  
**Word Count:** 20, 815  
**Characters/Pairings:** Mac, Veronica, Logan, Lilly I, Duncan, Dick, Wallace, Piz, Parker, Casey Gant, Lilly II, Alicia Fennel, Trina Echolls, Mrs. Lee, Celeste Kane, Jake Kane, OFCs, Carrie Bishop, Susan Knight _(mentions of: Darrel Fennel, Keith Mars, OFC, Weevil, Aaron Echolls)_

**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

* * *

**The Return**

**39**

**Three**

November 2008

~Mac~

Mac paced as the phone rang and she waited, impatiently, for Veronica to pick up. What the hell was going on over there in that house? This was the third time she'd tried the landline and she'd already called Veronica's cell three times and Logan's twice. What was going on that neither Veronica or Logan were answering their phones? They didn't have a class, Veronica wasn't working, unless they were in the hospital or, more likely, in jail…

"Hello?" Veronica's voice came through loud and clear and… out of breath. Oh God, she interrupted sex and now Veronica was probably going to take ten million years to get here.

"Where were you? I've called a thousand times." Okay, she didn't really need the answer to that question. "I called Logan's phone a bunch of times, too."

"I was blow drying my hair, couldn't hear the phones. Logan is down on the beach with Ares though, do you want me to get him?" Veronica's voice took on that concerned tone she got whenever she suspected bad news. Mac thought it through and realized her panic might come off that something was wrong. Well, something was wrong but nothing as dramatic as what was more typical of their group.

"No, I was trying to get a hold of you. I need you to come over." Mac tried to slow her breathing, calm herself down a little.

"Okay, I just have to put on my shoes and a sweater and I'll be there. Like, twenty minutes okay?" Now she was coddling.

"I also need you to pick something up for me." Mac took a deep breath.

"What do you need Mac?"

"Pregnancy tests. Get a couple, just in case."

"Okay."

That was too easy. "I'm at Dick's."

"Mac, I helped move you in there last weekend, I know where you are. And since you're officially living…" Mac heard the rustle of fabric, like she was putting on a shirt, "with your boyfriend you should start calling it home or something to that effect."

"How hard was it for you to not say 'living in sin'?" Mac asked, her panic easing off enough to appreciate Veronica's humor.

There was the jangle of keys and then a burst of static as the outside wind hit the mouthpiece of Veronica's phone. "So hard, but I thought it might upset you… under the circumstances."

"Okay, I'll see you soon. And Veronica?"

Mac heard the wind stop with the slamming of a car door. A sudden burst of music, silence and then "Yeah?"

"Speed."

"Don't worry, I'll break all the laws. Good thing my daddy's sheriff." Veronica joked. "Hey, do you want me to bring Logan?"

"Why would you bring Logan?" Mac asked, suddenly panicked.

"Dick distraction." Veronica said simply.

"No that's okay. He' s gone to see his dad so he should be gone for quite a while."

"Alrighty then, I'll see you in about thirty minutes."

Mac paced the bedroom restlessly, her hands twisting together with nervous tension. "What does that one say?"

"It's positive." Veronica told her, setting another pregnancy test down in the line on the bathroom counter.

"Maybe we should try another one." She suggested, her head whipping back and forth, scanning the counters and floor for another box.

"Mac, that was the last one."

"So we should go get another one. Maybe wait a couple days and see if maybe it's just–"

"See if today you're peeing pregnant and you won't be tomorrow? It doesn't work like that." Veronica interrupted. "You've tried six different brands, two in each box. So that's, what? Twelve tests, all positive. I think now you need to call and make an appointment with health services on campus. Then you need to figure out how exactly how you're going to tell Dick."

"Will you do it for me?" Mac asked, cringing at her own cowardice.

"No. But I will help you decide when and how to do it." Her best friend offered, sympathy in her eyes even though she was smirking.

"Okay. When and how?"

"Tonight, and I think a straightforward announcement would be better than hinting at it. Dick doesn't always get the hint and you don't want to have one of those conversations where he thinks you're talking about something else and you think he understands without actually coming out and saying it. I mean, you don't want it to be a couple days later and you're at the doctor's and he's giving you your due date and Dick's like 'due for what?', right?"

"Right. Are you sure you don't want to do it for me? He always takes you seriously." Mac tried again, not looking forward to having this conversation.

"No. That's a conversation I've _never_ wanted to have, least of all with Dick Casablancas." Veronica adamantly shook her head in refusal.

"Please?" Mac tried once again.

"No."

~Duncan~

He doesn't know how he managed to get all his closest friends here, with no extras, for his birthday. One minute Lilly was talking blowout and the next she had inexplicably given in to the quiet barbeque with just their closest friends in the backyard of the old Kane Estate.

"Come on, Munchkin, swim to me. Forget about Aunt Veronica and come to me." Logan coaxed, treading water in the pool and holding his arms out for little Lilly. Veronica called out from the other side of the pool and little Lilly hesitated between them, trying to decide. According to her namesake, this was how Logan and Veronica had taught little Lilly how to swim last summer.

"You know, she was almost scared of the water at the beginning of last summer. Logan nearly had a heart attack when they took her to the beach and she wouldn't go near the water." Parker told him as she watched, with him, as his two best friends in the whole world confused the hell out of his little girl.

"Probably something Celeste said to her. We used to go to the beach all the time in Mollymook. Sometimes I really kind of miss Australia, but then I look at Logan and Veronica, Lilly and you and all our friends and I think about how I'd never want to miss this." He felt sullen and depressing in this bizarre sentimental state he found himself in suddenly.

"I'm glad you're here." Parker announced to him, grinning wildly even though she was checking her watch for close to the millionth time in the last thirty minutes. Apparently Casey was late. "Not that freshman year with everybody was great, because it was, for about two minutes. Then everything happened and snowballed until we were ending the year with all this drama."

"I hate to tell you but that's more the norm in Neptune than the way it's been lately. Having an eventless year, especially with Veronica and Logan around, isn't really likely. With Lilly out and about it's plain impossible. You can't tell me that you went all last year drama-free." Duncan raised an eyebrow skeptically, practically daring Parker to make the assertion that his sister hadn't gotten into _some_ kind of trouble last year.

"Okay, no it wasn't drama free last year, but it wasn't non-stop insanity either." Parker told him making a small concession.

"Well, I think we always knew that their first year at college was going to be crazy. After all, there's new enemies to make." He was joking, he really was, but he also knew that while his friends hadn't gone into the situation thinking like this he also knew that, on some level, that had expected it. After all, no one made enemies quite like Logan Echolls and Veronica Mars.

"You have no idea. I mean, Veronica got herself involved in some really scary stuff. A murder, rapes and a gang." Parker said it with such shock and such awe that it forced Duncan to remember that she hadn't always been around, that this was all still pretty new to her. Murder and mystery wasn't an everyday occurrence in other places, in other high schools and there probably wasn't another tiny blonde solving mysteries anywhere else in the world.

"Here." Lilly came a stop in front of him and shoved a beer into his hands. "It's your twenty-first birthday and you haven't had a single beer. I mean, you won't even go out and buy alcohol, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm not that into it. It's not like I party all that often, once you have a child it's kind of difficult to really get into the whole turning twenty-one thing." Duncan explained, but took the beer anyway. Lilly continued to stand before him, hands on hips and eyebrows raised in questioning annoyance, so he twisted off the top and took a swig.

"You're such a freak." His sister informed him before turning on her heel and flouncing away to the opposite side of the pool and plopping down next to Mac on a lounge chair. Mac raised her head slightly to look at the blonde before laying back and down. He'd thought Mac was sleeping but she seemed to be talking to his sister because Lilly was sitting up, nodding as if agreeing with Mac and whatever conversation they were having. Lilly handed Mac a water bottle but she stood silently and rushed into the house. Lilly got up and followed Mac inside, grabbing Mac's pool tote as she went.

"Huh, I hope Mac's not sick." Duncan wondered out loud. Parker shrugged her shoulders and then got up to go after Mac and Lilly. She entered the house just behind Veronica who was dripping wet but quickly wrapping one of the large white pool towels around herself.

"So, now that you're a dad you don't party?" Dick asked as he sat down in Parker's vacated chair. "That sucks, I always liked parties, but I guess if you have a kid one of you would have to stay home, right?"

"I don't know Dick. It's not like Meg's around so I can go out while she stays with the baby." Duncan told him, taking another swig of the beer Lilly had given him. He couldn't do a lot of drinking but he could at least have a beer or two on his twenty-first birthday.

"Well, it's not like parties are that fun without Mac anyway. I mean, what's the point of going to a party solo if you're not going to pick up chicks?" Dick continued as if Duncan hadn't even spoken.

"What are you talking about?" Duncan asked, his brow furrowing in confusion as he watched Logan and his daughter play alone in the pool. It was starting to get a little chilly, he should probably take her in to get dressed. They'd have to start up the grill soon anyway.

"Mac's knocked up. They found out last week." Logan called from the pool, holding Lilly close as he walked them both towards the steps at the end of the pool.

"Mac's pregnant?" Duncan asked, still confused. It seemed like such a foreign concept, that Dick was going to be a father, that he couldn't seem to grasp it.

"Yeah, she's about ten weeks along, which I guess is about a quarter of the way through. We're 25% of the way to having a little munchkin of our own." Dick explained, snagging one of the beers that Logan offered out as he wrapped both himself and Little Lilly in towels. Dick reached forward and tousled Lilly's wet hair. "A munchkin just like you."

This caused her to scowl, "I not _kin_, Uncle Dick. Imma Lilly."

"I know that." Dick assured her. She nodded and went back to letting Logan pat her dry. Logan rubbed a bit at her hair before sending her off to the house to find Aunt Veronica. He scooped up his beer and took a long pull before he joined Duncan and Dick at the table. "How'd you know that Mac was pregnant? We haven't really told anyone since she's still trying to figure out how to tell her parents. All four of them."

"Veronica told me when she got back from your place. She went to give Mac moral support while she took the test." Logan smiled at Dick with a conciliatory smile before adding, "Sorry man, I kinda knew before you."

"Yeah, well… When she told me I didn't really get what she was saying because she didn't come right out and say it. It wasn't until a couple days later when Parker made a comment about it that it really sunk in what she had been talking about." Dick explained in that incredibly laid back way of his. Duncan had always kind of admired that about Dick. He had every right to be as complicated and messed up and bitter as the rest of them but he never let anything get to him, never let it get him down. Dick was simple because he chose to be and Duncan suddenly understood the appeal of having Dick around. He wasn't real complicated, but he was fun and understanding and he seemed to get a lot more than people gave him credit for.

"You're taking it well." Duncan commented, tipping his beer in Dick's direction. Logan and Dick both raised their beers in a mock toast and the all tipped back at the same time.

"Well, I figure I could get upset and freak out about it and all that or I could just deal. Mac's going to have it, there wasn't really a question about that because I love her and she loves me and why not? I mean, there's not going to be someone out there that's better than Mac. She's it because, it turns out, that she's all I'm ever going to want or need. So we have a baby now instead of sometime down the line, it'll all be okay." Dick explained, shrugging his shoulders at the end and finishing off his beer. "I'm going to go see if she's okay. She doesn't like me in there when she throws up, and I can't say that I really _want_ to be there for that, but I want to make sure she's okay."

Dick passed Wallace and Piz on his way into the house. They were still dressed and Wallace had a Hearst basketball duffel bag slung over his shoulder and Piz had a bright yellow bowl cradled in his hands.

"Hey, man. Sorry we're late but I had to stop by my mom's and pick up this," Wallace gestured to the bowl, reminding Duncan of Vanna White from Wheel-of-Fortune. Piz gently sat the bowl down on the table and backed away, pulling a case of beer out of his own duffel bag and setting them in front of Duncan.

"Happy Birthday, man. I present to you Quarry Brewing Microbrew Beer from my cousin in Montana. It's awesome. I had him send with his mom when she went to visit my mom and she sent it with my dad when he brought down the last of my stuff last week." Piz explained, grinning madly, obviously proud of his gift.

"And I give you my mom's homemade potato salad, but you have to share with the group because if you don't Veronica's likely to kill you. It's that good." Wallace told him. "That's potatoey gold right there."

Duncan nodded and promised that he would wield the power of the potato salad well. "I will be a kind and benevolent dictator on this day of celebration." Duncan lifted a bottle of the microbrew that Piz had given him, used the bottle opener key chain that Logan offered him, and took a quick drink of the beer. "Wow, that's really good. Way better than the crap Logan keeps pushing on me."

"Dude, that comes from the finest microbrewery in So Cal." Logan was indignant, reaching for a bottle of the Quarry stuff.

"Hey! My present!" Duncan shouted, slapping Logan's hand away. "Wait for your own birthday." Duncan took another pull from the bottle. "Damn, I think I'm going to order some of this stuff."

"And in that case." Logan snatched a bottle before Duncan could stop him. Duncan shrugged and threw him back his keys so he could open it.

"That's all you're getting."

"Whatever, I'm going to go start the grill." With that Logan stood and sauntered off towards the grilling station that Duncan's dad had built into the patio last summer.

~Parker~

"I know I should be home, mom. I know you wanted me home to do the whole family dinner thing, but I've got to be back on the radio tomorrow morning and it just wouldn't work out anyway." Parker told her mother for approximately the three hundredth time.

"I don't understand why you're letting this little radio hobby take you away from your family on such an important holiday. You've never skipped a holiday with us before and now you're passing on Thanksgiving and I hear from Anna's mother that you're not sure you'll be able to make it for Christmas." Parker grit her teeth in annoyance at both her mother's insinuation that the radio show was a _hobby_ and that her best friend from high school had let it slip to her mother that Parker was thinking about not making the trip back for Christmas either and then she had called _her_ mother and told her. Probably not even five minutes later. She was going to have to have a little chat with Anna the next time she got a minute to call her.

She understood where Anna was coming from, kind of. Parker hadn't really been back to Denver since the summer after freshman year and the more she spoke to her old friends from high school the more she realized that her college experience might not be typical. A friend – and former roommate – who moonlighted as a private investigator, solving mysteries and kidnappings and murders when she wasn't busy with classes. An ex-boyfriend who was almost as famous as his murdered father who also happened to be murderer himself. A billionaire heir for a best friend, his heiress sister as her radio show co-host. Her ex-roommate and good friend was a computer hacker that could pretty much rule the world someday and her millionaire boyfriend. One of the best college basketball players in the country and a future rockstar for friends and roommates. It all sounded glamorous and far fetched even to her and she was living it. God, her boyfriend was the CEO and president of his family publishing company and multi-millionaire several times over, and he was only twenty-two. Parker had a sneaking suspicion that none of her friends really believed her when she told them this stuff.

"Mom, I told you that I'd probably be spending Christmas with Casey. He invited me to spend it at his family house here in Neptune and I think I'm going to take him up on it. I'll probably have to be back for work pretty soon after the holiday and it wouldn't really be worth it to fly up there just for a day or two." Parker explained, fidgeting with the strap of the purse that lie across her lap. She didn't get paid that much to be on the radio and she had actually volunteered to cover for another deejay while he was in Florida visiting his own family, but her mother didn't need to know that. She also didn't know that Parker actually invited Anna to come and stay with her over winter break either, after Christmas.

"Anna's mother tells me that Anna will be flying down to California to stay with you for a week before she flies back to Indiana for school. You have time to visit with friends, but you don't have time for your own family?" Not exactly a new angle, but her mother wasn't exactly creative with her guilt trips either. Not like Lilly and Duncan's mother. Mrs. Kane seemed to be pretty skilled at it even though it never got her anywhere with her own children. And the withering stare, she could teach Parker's mother a thing or two about staring someone down.

"I just don't have time for a trip right now mother. The decision has already been made, I don't know why you keep harping on it. I'll try to make it back for Easter or maybe during Spring Break, but I can't make it before then, I'm sorry." Lies. All lies. She wasn't sorry. She was already planning to head down to some resort in Mexico with everyone for Spring Break and she, Lilly and Veronica were planning Mac's baby shower for sometime around Easter. And Casey did this whole Easter fundraiser for underprivileged children that she had already volunteer to help him with. Her mother didn't need to know any of this either.

"I don't understand you anymore, Parker." Her mother said that like she had ever understood her at all. "You used to love being with your family." Correction, she used to have to endure her family because she was a minor and couldn't escape the holiday craziness. She never enjoyed being at the kids table while her little cousins kicked her under the table and her mother's alcoholic brother made a passes at her father's sister in front of both their spouses and everyone else. "Now you seem to have written us all off. Nobody has seen you since you started college. We've barely seen you, we don't see you unless we visit, except for that short stay after freshman year you haven't been back." Not true, she was home for Christmas and Thanksgiving last year, everyone saw her then.

"I'm sure the holidays will be fine without me, mother." She needed to get dressed, finish her make up and her hair and get over to Logan and Veronica's. Veronica had specifically said that dinner would be at six and if she was late then she'd have to deal with Veronica and the fact that she was taking this hostess gig _way_ too seriously. Lilly had already left without her, Wallace was picking up his mom and little brother on the way to dinner. Mac had offered to swing by and pick her up but she'd been planning on riding with Lilly before her mother had called. Now it was four-thirty and she still had to get ready and drive across town in holiday traffic and this conversation was showing no signs of ending.

"Holidays are for family, Parker Lee." Abandoning the guilt trip for a scolding. Parker wondered when that had ever worked out and why her mother kept using the same old tactics when they didn't work.

"Well, my friends are like a family so you can rest assured. I have to get ready mother or I'll be late to dinner." Parker got off the bed, determined to end the conversation. "If I'm late Veronica will be upset and I'll be delaying dinner for fifteen other people."

"You should be here, with you actual family." Her mother tried again and Parker rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Well, it's too late for me to catch a flight so you're just going to have to get over it. Now, please tell daddy I said Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you have a wonderful dinner, but I have to go mother. Goodbye." Parker ended the call and then stood there for a moment staring at her phone, a little shocked at what she'd done. She'd never hung up on her mother before, it was a liberating feeling.

She shot a quick text to Casey and another to Veronica, letting them know she might be a little late because of a phone call with her mother and then she went into the bathroom to finish her make up. She was quite proud of herself, feeling rather smug until her phone began trilling out her mother's ringtone. Parker cringed and reached for her phone, hesitating a moment before she resolutely hit the silence button and continued applying her red lipstick.

Her mother called again while she was sliding into her chocolate brown dress. Once more while she was slipping on her nude patent leather platform stilettos that she had picked up on a shopping trip with Lilly. She slid the buzzing phone into her matching purse, checked her reflection once more, snagged her keys off the small table next to her bedroom door, flipped off her light switch and made her way out of the house. She heard it buzz pretty continuously on the drive to Echolls-Mars house and, after parking her car in the open space between Lilly's BMW and Dick's Escalade, she pulled her phone out again.

"Parker Jane Lee. How dare you hang up on me!" her mother started in the moment she answered.

"I have dinner plans mother, I told you that several times. You cannot command me back to Denver. I can't teleport so I wouldn't make your dinner even if you could. I'm a twenty years old and I do not have to check in with before I make plans. Now, if I'm not mistaken, you are actually missing the dinner you are so insistent that I intend so you can be on the phone yelling at me. I have to go before I'm late, I'll try to call you tomorrow." Parker hung her phone up again before her mother could get another word in and, after some deliberation, she threw the phone onto the front passenger seat before getting out and locking her car.

Parker walked quickly up the front walk and entered the house without knocking. Logan thought it was funny that none of their friends knocked before entering but Veronica always said that she thought it was kind of nice. It was sweet how peaceful Veronica and Logan both seemed these days, living together with their maniac puppy. "Hello!" She called out to everyone.

"Hello." A small redhead in a designer dress with the shoes and bag to match greeted her as she passed through the living room towards the dining room that was decorated in browns and oranges with a table set for sixteen. "Trina Echolls, and you are?" The woman looked at her expectantly, head tilted in the same curious way that Logan had.

"Parker. Lee." Trina raised her eyebrows slightly in an insinuated shrug before she continued on her way. Parker was reminded very much of Logan, and though he was always so adamant about the fact that Trina was adopted, Parker could see the similarities between them in mannerisms and posture. _Chalk one up to nurture._

"Parker, sweetie, don't you look lovely." Mrs. Fennel called from the living room where she was seated with Little Lilly on her lap as she chatted with Tamsin, Casey and Wallace. Casey immediately stood up to give her a kiss on the cheek before leading her further into the room.

"Thank you Mrs. Fennel, you look very nice too." She smiled at Wallace's mom who had become sort of a surrogate mother for everyone currently living at the Big House with her son. _Why can't my mother be like that?_ "I'm going to pop into the kitchen to see if Veronica needs any help." She left the room to the sound of Alicia finishing her story.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Parker called as she entered the kitchen where Veronica, Mac, Lilly and Logan were congregated. Logan sat on the island counter to the left of the stove, popping snap peas into his mouth as he watched his girlfriend cook. Lilly and Mac sat at the breakfast bar directly across from Veronica at the stove. The counters were messy, piled with pots and pans that Veronica had used to cook. Lilly was transferring mashed potatoes into a serving bowl while Mac did the same with the stuffing. Parker spotted a large turkey in the top oven and a pie of some sort in the bottom one.

"Hey, you look great." Veronica greeted, giving her a quick once over before turning back to the stove. Parker hugged Lilly and then Mac before sliding into an empty stool at the end of the bar.

"Thanks. The food looks amazing." Parker told her, taking a handful of the snap peas that were sitting out on the counter for snacking.

"Thank you." Veronica said as she struck a quick pose before she went back to stirring whatever it was in the pot. Logan picked up his phone again and stared at it. "Although you might take that back if this gravy doesn't thicken."

"I think you should stop stirring it and just let it come to a boil, then remove it from the heat. It should thicken up." Logan told her, showing her the screen on his phone.

"I tried that. I think it might be time to call in the big guns." Veronica sighed and looked up at the three girls lined up in front of her. "Mac, will you go get Alicia?"

"Did you try stirring a little cornstarch into it?" Parker offered.

"No. Logan grab the cornstarch, it's in the pantry in a yellow plastic jar." Veronica sent him off.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Parker asked.

"Logan was complaining about Trina being here and Lilly was whining about Weevil. All of Veronica's problems seem to be food related though." Mac told her.

"Oh. I met Trina when I came in, can't say I'm all that impressed, but I didn't see Weevil."

"Dad, Dick, Duncan and Weevil are all downstairs watching football on the big screen. I think Casey and Wallace were on their way down before Alicia waylaid them in the living room. Darrel is in Logan's game room, playing with the Wii and I think Trina just went into the office to check her email before dinner. Apparently she's expecting something from her agent about some role on one of the CBS sitcoms." Veronica rattled off, sprinkling some of the cornstarch into the pot as she stirred.

"Sounds like it's going to be a fun Thanksgiving." Parker said excitedly, leaning forward to look into the pot. A timer went off and Logan turned towards the oven as he slipped on a pair of oven mits and pulled the turkey out of the oven.

"I think interesting might be a more accurate description." Veronica corrected as they all four girls watched in amazement as Logan basted the turkey a bit before checking the temperature.

"It's done." He announced finally looking up. "What?"

Lilly, Mac and Parker turned, simultaneously, back to Veronica who just shrugged and said, "Yeah, well you should've been here when he stuck his hand up it's ass in order to stuff it."

December 2008

~Mac~

"So, what is he getting me?" Mac asked, forgoing the any kind of segue. It's was easier to just come out and ask these questions when you were dealing with a world class avoider like Veronica Mars.

"Nope. Sorry, we all promised it'd be a surprise." Veronica was a little too chipper as she shot her down, crunching down on carrot sticks. Way too perky for Mac's liking, _wasn't she supposed to be a _loyal_ friend_? "But, you'll be happy to know that I double checked all of his plans and it should all work out just fine, so don't you worry."

"Just tell me." Mac tried again, attempting the Veronica patented head tilt that always seemed to yield results.

"I like that you think that'll work on me." Veronica grinned at her, annoyingly, as she popped a sliver of red pepper into her mouth. "I can give you hints on wardrobe choices though."

"I don't want hints on wardrobe choices, I want a full on confession about how I will be spending the evening of my twenty-first birthday since I've made the grave mistake of spending the afternoon of it with _you_." _There, that ought to do the trick_, she thought as she watched Veronica's face closely.

"Wow, you're going to be a great mom. Already have the whole guilt trip thing down and everything." Veronica smiled serenely.

"I know what he's got planned."

"Parker!" Veronica scolded, scowling at the tallest of the three blondes currently seated at the table.

"How come I don't know?" Lilly asked, obviously insulted by this slight.

"Because you have big mouth and both Dick and I agreed that you're more likely to announce it on the radio than actually keep it a secret." Veronica told the older girl before turning back to Parker. "Although it seems that we should have been more wary about sharing the information with Miss Lee over there."

"I said I knew, not that I was willing to divulge any information." Parker clarified, obviously enjoying her moment of teasing Veronica _and_ Mac. "Geeze, Veronica, I thought you were all about the details."

"You know, it's not nice to tease a pregnant woman." Mac informed them both, crossing her arms in front of her chest and scowling at all three of her friends, just in case.

"Okay, it's a classy casual kind of evening." Veronica told her, _finally_ returning her attention to the real subject.

"Classy casual?" Mac asked, a little more confused that informed but her plans for the evening. "All I got out of that is that I should not be donning my booty shorts and tube top."

"You shouldn't do that anyway." Lilly informed her, shaking her head in mock disgust as she brought her bottle of lemonade up to take a drink. Or real disgust, sometimes Mac just couldn't tell when Lilly was serious and when she wasn't. Especially lately.

"I was kidding." Mac told her, just in case.

"I know. I've been through your closet many times, I know that you don't even own a tube top." Lilly replied, her brow furrowing as she shook her head and laughing a little.

"Mac isn't really getting the jokes these days." Parker informed the table, giving her a pitying look as if she'd just told everyone Mac was terminally ill. Of course, in this group, not getting the jokes was just as bad. None of her friends ever really took things seriously, they had a joke and comment for everything.

"It means that you shouldn't wear jeans but a dress or skirt isn't really necessary. Actually, sartorially speaking, Parker should really be telling you because she's the one that Dick sent shopping to pick up an outfit for you." Veronica gestured to Parker. "Miss Lee, take it away."

"I got you two options. There's a red wrap dress, just in case you're feeling a bit girlier but there's also some black linen pants and red scoop-neck top in there too. Silk. It's gorgeous. There's a pair of red patent leather heels and a matching purse, all in the guest bedroom closet." Parker informed her.

"Someone had a theme." Lilly commented.

"I think she looks really pretty in red, and I was trying to match it to the streaks in her hair which are currently deep red." Parker said, defending her choices.

"Okay, so where will I be wearing these potentially fabulous outfits?" Mac asked, hoping to catch at least one of them off-guard enough to let something slip.

"Uh-uh." Veronica was shaking her head and giving Parker a look that could only be described as menacing.

"Come on, Veronica. She should have a _little_ hint about where he's taking her.

"Okay. It's nice dinner so you have to dress classy but there's post-dinner activities where you're not going to want to be completely formal. You know, more casual, but I've seen the dress and it's casual enough for the second part but nice enough for the first part. So is the other outfit." Veronica explained and Mac could tell that that was all she was going to get out of blonde number one. Blonde number two didn't know anything but blonde number three was weak, easier to crack. "You did really great with the clothes, Parker."

"Thank you, Veronica." Parker replied and they were both so smug about it that Mac felt the sudden urge to smack them both.

"Why didn't you get to pick out the clothes?" Lilly asked.

Veronica shrugged nonchalantly, as if she didn't know nor care about the answer.

"Dick said that Veronica's style was a bit too sassy." Parker said, causing everyone to dissolve into giggles.

Mac joined in because the idea of Dick telling her best friend that her style was too sassy was just too funny not to laugh with her friends about, even if they were disloyal brats who were keeping Dick's secrets.

She sat across from Dick in the red wrap dress and wished that she'd gone with the pants outfit. When she'd gotten home and Dick told her to change into whatever Parker had picked out she'd thought, for just a second, that the dress was too pretty to pass up. A moment of girly weakness that she was now regretting. She felt more exposed than she cared to admit and just a little cold on this December evening.

"You want my jacket?" Dick asked, already sliding his arms out of his sleeves. She saw him empty out the pockets before he passed the suit jacket across the table to her. She eyed him suspiciously, wondering what it was that he didn't want her to see.

"Thank you." She congratulated herself on not letting her suspicion creep into her voice. She slid her arms into his still warm jacket and was grateful for it's warmth and Dick's thoughtfulness. She thought about how the last significant birthday she'd had was her eighteenth and she'd spent that birthday mostly annoyed with Dick for interrupting her and Cassidy's date. Nineteen had been depressing and last year's birthday hadn't been all that memorable. She hadn't been planning a big party this year, but she had expected to do the cliché bar crawl with all her friends. Then she'd found out she was pregnant and, while it didn't seem like such a tragedy as it would have if it happened last year, she'd been a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to drink on her birthday.

"I know it sucks that you can't have wine or something on your twenty-first birthday, so I thought maybe we'd stop by a convenience store and you can take your new ID out for a test drive." Dick offered, smiling a little at her and she remembered just how excited he'd been to walk into a liquor store and pull out his actual driver's license rather than the fake one he'd been using since he was seventeen. "I'm sorry I kind of ruined your twenty-first birthday for you."

"You didn't ruin it." Mac told him, smiling at him and she didn't feel so disappointed anymore. "It's not like I'm that big of drinker, you know?" And she really wasn't. If she wasn't pregnant she probably wouldn't be partying it up anyway. They'd probably be doing exactly this but instead of the ginger ale in her wine glass she'd have a little champagne and then maybe a beer later, at whatever this mysterious post-dinner activity, but no more than that.

The waiter came and took their nearly empty plates, asking if they'd like any dessert. They ordered cake and Mac was eternally grateful that Dick didn't insist on having the wait staff sing an embarrassing version of Happy Birthday while they brought her slice to her with a sparkler sticking out of it. Logan had pulled that crap on Veronica last August and Mac was still a little surprised that he'd lived through the experience.

As soon as the waiter left Dick slid two neatly wrapped boxes across the table towards her. They were wrapped in shiny blue paper with a silver bows on top and Mac smiled at the sight of them. It reminded her of birthday parties when she was little, how presents always came before cake but after whatever her mother was serving for lunch.

She unwrapped the long thin one first, revealing a black velvet jewelers box, opening that to find a thin silver chain with a glittering snowflake charm. She removed it from the box and put it on before moving on to the second box. She could see that she had the attention of the woman at the table next to them, craning her neck so she could see what was in the beautifully wrapped presents. _Nosy bitch_, Mac thought as she reached for her second gift.

This box was more cube-like and Mac had a momentary panic as she held it in her hands, hoping that Dick didn't feel the need to propose now that he'd knocked her up. She held her breath and fought the urge to close her eyes as she opened the box and revealed… a very beautiful pair of earrings. Diamonds, not too small to seem like he'd had to save up for them but not too large to be deemed ostentatious. They were perfect, and Mac let out the breath she'd been holding, felt herself relax.

"They're perfect." Mac told him as she set the box down in order remove the earrings so she could wear them. The nosy woman next to them slumped back into her chair in disappointment, like she had some personal stake in Dick's proposal.

"I'm glad. I was going to get you your birthstone but Veronica said these would go with a lot more." Dick explained. "Honestly, I was going to ignore her but when I got to the jewelry store and saw what the turquoise stuff looked like, I realized she was right. These were more your style anyway."

"I love them." Mac assured as she put the earrings on, first the right and then the left. She turned her head from side to side, letting them sparkle a little. "How do they look?"

"Perfect."

~Lilly~

"What, mother?" Lilly asked, lounging on the couch with the newest issue of Vogue as her mother bustled about, asking inane questions.

"Lillian, I specifically asked you to go entertain your niece until your father and brother get back." To say that Celeste wasn't particularly maternal was an understatement, to say she's not grandmotherly is stating something so obvious it was akin to smacking oneself in the head with a hammer and then saying it hurt. Duncan had had to kidnap and avoid the law for almost two years in order for her to come to terms with being a grandmother but, when the opportunity arose, she pawned even that off on someone else.

"Mother, didn't you _volunteer_ to watch the munchkin while they went out _golfing_?" _Golfing, hah, they just wanted to get out of the house and away from you._

"Lillian, what have I told you about calling her that dreadful nickname that those delinquent friends of yours gave her?" Celeste continued to move through the room, probably looking for the crystal crap she'd forced on Duncan when they'd moved back up to Napa and left him in charge of the house. It'd taken Duncan about point two seconds to have it all boxed up and placed in the basement.

Lilly continued to flip through her magazine for a few more seconds before realization dawned on her. "Mother, where is Little Lilly?"

"I don't know, with Elsa." Celeste waved her hand in the direction of the back half of the house, which included the kitchen, a bedroom and the door leading to the patio and pool area.

"You can't just abandon her, she could fall in the pool and _die_." Lilly got to her feet quickly and took a few steps before Elsa emerged from the kitchen carrying her niece. "Thank you Elsa, where did you find her?"

"She want to swim, but she already in pretty dress so we decide to find you instead." Elsa explained in her broken English, her Norwegian accent still pretty thick. Duncan had hired Elsa pretty quickly after he got out of prison, she had moved in late last month so she'd already be settled by time Duncan started his classes at Hearst in January. She was tall, blonde and blue eyed and was about as fair skinned as you could get. She was sweet and Munchkin loved her. Lilly was also pretty sure that Duncan was fucking her.

"I leave now, Miss Kane. I go spend Christmas with friends." Elsa handed the little girl over to Lilly.

"Aunt Lilly, can we go swimming later?" Munchkin asked, her voice sweet and timid as she eyed her grandmother. _Good girl_, Lilly thought. The kid was smart as a whip, beautiful and sweet. If it weren't for that last part Lilly would say that the little girl took completely after her, but that sweetness was all Duncan. Or, according to Veronica, all Meg Manning. Meg Manning wasn't a girl that she'd given a lot of thought to before, but she was glad that Meg had given up the goods to her little brother. Otherwise they'd be completely sans the Munchkin and Lilly didn't think that their lives would be any better for it, despite what Celeste preached when she had a little too much Pinot.

"We'll see, Munchkin." Lilly told her niece before looking back up at the nanny. _Time to ferret out some facts_. "You have friends here? Stateside? I thought you'd be spending Christmas with my brother…" Lilly paused a moment, studying the other woman's non-reaction before continuing, "and my niece."

"I give Mr. Duncan his present later." _I'll bet._ "I already give Miss Lilly hers."

"Well, he'll miss you I'm sure." Lilly told the girl, satisfied when Elsa's head snapped up and Lilly could see the faint beginnings of a blush. _They're totally screwing_. "After all, no he's going to have to depend on our mother to help him watch her."

"Lillian!" Celeste gasped, but Lilly went on as if she hadn't spoke.

"Not that she's all that much trouble. Munchkin here is so well behaved I sometimes wonder if she's actually a Kane girl. We tend to be a bit wild. Kane men though, they seem pretty tame but they have a wild streak. Right mother?" Another gasp of horror from her mother. "At least, that's what my friend Veronica's mother told her."

"Lillian Katherine Kane!" Usage of the full name, Celeste was really pissed. Elsa just looked confused and Lilly felt a little guilty about falling back on bad habits, but her mother just brought out the worst in her.

"I leave now Miss Kane. I be back Saturday to help with birthday party." Elsa nodded at them again before making her way out the front door, only stopping briefly to get her coat out of the foyer closet. Lilly watched out the huge front windows as the girl got in her compact car and drove off.

"Lilly, how dare you say those things. And in front of the help _and_ Duncan's daughter." Celeste was gearing up for a full on fit and Lilly wasn't in the mood for it. Thankfully Duncan and her father chose that moment to return.

"Grampa!" Munchkin shouted leaning out with open arms to embrace Jake. He hadn't been the best father but Lilly hadn't ever really held it against him the way she held it against Celeste. Since she was young Lilly had known that her father was extremely busy, that he had a lot to do and couldn't devote as much time to her as she might want and that was okay because he loved her. Celeste, however, had been a 'stay at home mom' without ever actually being at home or giving any of her time to her daughter. Duncan was pampered, the precious prince that got all the attention she could afford to give when she wasn't off working on one of her committees.

"Hey, Munchkin." Duncan greet his daughter with a kiss on her forehead as he passed through the living room. Lilly chose to follow him instead of dealing with her mother and the fight they were sure to have at some point today.

"So, what did you and dad do? I know you didn't go golfing so save that lie for mom." Lilly followed him down the hall to the kitchen.

"Strip club. Smoked a couple of cigars, dad bought me a lap dance." Duncan joked as he pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and a bottle of pills out of the cupboard.

"Gross, Donut. What'd you really do?" She leaned against the counter as she watched him shake out a pill and pop it in his mouth, chasing it with half the bottle of water.

"We went in to the office and talked for a bit without mom around." Duncan stuck his head out into the hallway and checked for their parents or his daughter. Lilly could hear her mother yelling and Jake asking her not to speak like this in front of their granddaughter.

"Your fuck buddy already left." Lilly said, hopping up to sit on island counter as she waited for her brother to tell her whatever it was that nobody else was supposed to hear.

"What?" Duncan looked back at her, his brows pulled together in confusion. _Almost convincing_.

"Elsa? She left to spend Christmas with friends. You're sleeping with her, yes?" Lilly didn't need her brother to confirm it, all the signs were there, she just wanted to see how far he'd go to keep from admitting it.

"No, but I need to talk to you about something else." He checked outside the door again before coming to stand in front of Lilly, almost disturbingly close. "Dad and I were at the office because he wanted to talk to me about something first." Duncan's voice was lowered to a whisper and Lilly felt the thrill travel up her spine at the thought of a secret. A good one, by the look on Duncan's face.

"Cool, spy voice." Lilly's voice was low and conspiratorial as she leaned a little closer to her brother. "What was it? Corporate espionage?"

"No," Duncan spared a brief 'you're insane' look for her before he went on. "Dad's leaving mom."

"And he thought to warn you but not me? Is that more of a comment on my relationship with or my relationship with mom?" Lilly asked, snapping back into her normal voice. She was more than a little annoyed that their father had shown more consideration for Duncan's feelings on the matter than hers. It wasn't like this was going to traumatize her or anything. In the grand scheme of things, this was probably one of the more normal problems she had in her life, but the same could be said for Duncan and he still got the heads up.

"Dad said he was going to try and get you alone at some point but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to. He wanted at least one of us to know beforehand so we'd warn the other, just in case he didn't get a chance to sit down with both of us. He wanted it to be one-on-one so we could ask questions or whatever. He's going to try to get you alone, to talk, later on today but, just in case, he told me to fill you in." Duncan rested his hands on her shoulders in a calming gesture, his voice still low and secretive.

"So, what? Is he leaving mom for Mrs. Mars?" Lilly asked, calmed by the belief that her father wasn't leaving her out, her mother was just a nosy bitch who would want to know why he wanted to hang out with Lilly. Duncan and him golfing Christmas morning was understandable but she'd want to know why Jake wanted a little daddy-daughter time in the library.

"That's not why. He has pictures, of mom having an affair with the tennis pro up at the Napa Country Club." Duncan whispered, looking a little more on edge now that they've gotten to the meaty part of the story.

"That's ironic." Lilly laughed, a little surprised that her mother, the Ice Queen, was getting off with the help.

"I know, but I guess that, even after all these years, she doesn't have any definitive proof that dad ever cheated. He says he just wants out, that he can't take her anymore. It's been a long time coming but he stayed with her during the your coma and the whole Aaron Echolls stuff. Then he stayed because you were just getting back on your feet and I was in prison and all that. Now that everything is settled and you're in college and I'm starting in January he feels that the time is right. He's going to do it right after the new year, something about resolutions." Duncan's whispering was so low that she had to strain to hear it, leaning forward until her hear was right next to his mouth.

"Children, I think it's time we open our Christmas presents now, don't you?" Celeste's voice came from the doorway and both Duncan and Lilly jumped away from each other as if they'd been burned. "What are you two doing?" Celeste's eyes narrowed in suspicion, looking from Duncan's almost guilty face to Lilly's answering glare. Lilly kicked out at her brother, the instant her foot made contact he glanced over and then his face went blank.

Celeste gave them both a stern and expectant look before turning and heading back into the living room. Lilly cringed as she heard her mother yell at her namesake "Lillian Meg Kane, you stop that this instant." Lilly saw her brother's shoulders set into a defensive posture as he headed out of the kitchen.

"Hey!" Lilly called to her brother. Duncan stopped and turned back to her, his eyebrows raised questioningly. "You _are_ fucking your nanny, right?"

She just barely glimpsed his eye roll before he turned back around and headed towards his daughter.

~Veronica~

Veronica hadn't really been much of a big drinker before turning twenty-one and that really hadn't changed once it'd become legal for her to drink. Although she did enjoy the occasional glass of wine or bottle of beer, like now. Logan was off getting his own beer after retrieving her a glass of chardonnay from one of the bars set up around the estate. She didn't know whether Duncan had willingly agreed to this party or if Lilly had just railroaded right over his protests and done it anyway, but Veronica was glad either way since Lilly's recent history with parties at Veronica's house.

"Hi?" A petite girl with light brown hair greeted her, suddenly emerging from the living room where a Christmas tree was still dominating a corner.

"Hey. Anna, right?" Veronica spared her a glance before continuing to scan the crowd of over-eager partiers.

"Yeah. We met earlier this week at that little girl's birthday party?" Veronica glanced at her again, unsure whether this was an actual question or if the girl had that annoying habit of turning statements into questions. Probably the latter, the girl didn't seem to be waiting for an answer.

"Munchkin's birthday party, yeah." Veronica eyed the girl, trying to imagine Parker being best friends with her. Veronica knew that they all had friends outside their tight-knit group but she rarely ever encountered one of Parker's. Parker had a tendency to stick close to home, so to speak, too gun shy to get very close to anyone outside of their tight knit group of ten. A side-effect of being raped almost immediately after coming to a new place and meeting a slew of new people. Mercer was gone, behind bars, but the damage he had done was everlasting. So this girl, who represented a point in Parker's life before rape had changed her, was a mystery. A clue to who Parker was before Veronica had really gotten to know her, before Parker had become a full-fledged member of a group whose one major defining quality was the tragedies they'd survived. Except for Piz, but he'd gotten his stripes in the form of sex tapes and beat downs, not exactly tragic.

"I notice you all call her Munchkin. That's not her actual name though, right?" Anna asked and Veronica realized that they all did call her Munchkin and never anything else.

"Her name is Lilly. Duncan named her after his sister while she was in the coma. None of us thought she was ever going to wake up, it was almost like she died." Veronica explained.

"Oh. Parker said something about an attempted murder and stuff, but I had a hard time…" Anna hesitated and Veronica could see the something close to fear behind her eyes. Veronica knew that Anna must know the group's history, most of it played out in national news and gossip rags, but because they hadn't personally told her it made it difficult to know how to broach the subject. "I didn't really think it was all true because, you know, we're too young to deal with that stuff. Murder and comas and stuff."

"Nobody is ever too young for anything." Veronica told her, wishing that Logan would get back with his beer and steer this conversation into safer waters.

"Parker told me a little about what you're all like. It just seems so… crazy."

_It was crazy and insane and tragic and painful and none of that is something I want to share with you_. Veronica stared at the girl and could see that she didn't realize how much their past was none of her business. She was reminded of that first week at college, how innocent Piz and Parker had been and how much she had both envied and hated them for it. They'd been able to go off to college where they were unknown and have a fresh start, murder and violence and death and danger hadn't followed them.

"It was." Her answer simple, succinct, and Anna finally took the hint that this wasn't a topic up for discussion. Parker knew enough to fill the girl in if she was so curious, but she wouldn't be getting an insider information from Veronica.

"You know, with how much Parker talked about that Duncan guy I thought I'd get here and she'd be dating him." Anna was off on another topic and Veronica was grateful even if she was still a little annoyed with her. "I know she mentioned Casey a couple of times, but I really thought she'd be dating the other one."

"They're just friends." She knew that feeling because they'd all thought that Duncan was going to get out of prison and Parker and him would be the new couple in the group. It had come as a surprise when Parker and Duncan had both began insisting that they were just friends and were not dating. Personally she had thought that they really were secretly dating until Parker announced that she was dating Casey. Veronica hoped that Duncan wasn't pining, that he was really interested in Parker and was just trying not to show it, because a pining Duncan never worked out for anyone.

"But I like Casey and Duncan seems very happy with his girlfriend, at least he was when they snuck off earlier." Anna look of near-boredom turned to shock as Veronica whipped her head back to stare a the other girl. She hadn't really been paying attention, scanning the crowd for her boyfriend and trying to think of a way to excuse herself, but this had most certainly gotten her attention.

"Duncan doesn't have a girlfriend." Veronica stated, realizing after a moment that Anna had only met Duncan once and she probably saw someone else sneaking into a room with a girl.

"Well, they looked pretty familiar to me. They were getting really physical in the hallway before he opened the door to that bedroom at the end of the hall on the second floor. I was looking for a bathroom and Parker said there was one up there that I could use." Anna looked a little smug now, having information that Veronica didn't about Veronica's friends, people she barely knew.

"Are you sure it was Duncan? You've only met him once, maybe you got him mixed up with someone else."

"No, she called him by his name. Otherwise I wouldn't have known it was him at all because his back was to me. It was her I recognized. The tall blonde girl that was at the birthday party, she um… she's foreign, talks with broken English, thick accent. Weird name." Anna looked positively gleeful with her information and Veronica knew that by the end of the night nearly everyone at this party would know about it.

"Elsa?" Veronica asked even though she was pretty sure that's who it was. Veronica shook her head a little, holding in the laugh. Duncan was sleeping with the nanny. "Will you excuse me? I'm going to run to the bathroom."

"So, you're sleeping with your nanny?" Veronica asked as Duncan and Elsa emerged from the master bedroom, looking mussed but satisfied. _Ew_. There was something disturbing about hearing a close friend having sex, and she'd heard their grand finale just as she arrived in the upstairs hallway. She had leaned back and thought of England as she waited for them to emerge from the room.

Duncan blushed bright red and refused to meet her gaze, opting to leaned down and whisper in Elsa's ear. The girl nodded before walking confidently down the hallway. _That's one cool Swede_, Veronica thought as she watched Elsa walk away without a single ounce of embarrassment.

"I think she's actually called an au pair." He was still avoiding her gaze as he tried for nonchalance.

"I think it's still called a cliché, no matter what you call her." Veronica smirked at him and he raised his eyes to her face just long enough to catch it.

"Don't tell Lilly." He was looked at her right in the eye, his blush fading.

She fought the urge to laugh at him, at the fact that this was what he was concerned about. His sister knowing. "I think she's aware that you have sex Duncan. I mean, Munchkin came from somewhere, right?"

"No. I mean don't tell her because she would have _way_ too much fun with this information. She's been badgering me about it since Christmas and she was just so smug about it that I lied and told her I wasn't doing anything with Elsa because I didn't want to give her the satisfaction." Duncan explained as they walked down the hall together.

"You know, Lilly isn't the only one that can tease you, right?" Veronica bumped into him with her should, throwing him off balance just a little as they reached the stairs.

"And if I could've lied and told _you_ nothing was going on with Elsa I would have, but unfortunately I'm pretty sure that if I did after what you just witnessed you're next mission would be getting proof. Forgive me if I don't want a 'money shot' of me and the nanny circulating amongst our friends." Duncan let her go ahead of him down the stairs, keeping his voice low so only she could hear.

"I think she's actually called an au pair." Veronica said, repeating his earlier words, trying not to shiver at the thought of actually _seeing_ Duncan having sex, it gave her the creeps. It was similar to the feeling she'd gotten when she'd overheard Wallace trying to seduce Tamsin over the phone a couple months ago.

"Then who?" Duncan asked, stopping when he got to the bottom of the stairs. She made it a few more steps before she realized he was directly behind her anymore. She turned and took one large step so she was standing directly in front of him. Logan was making his way over to them, a beer in one hand and a bottle of something in the other. Lilly was following and Veronica could see she was talking a mile a minute. Logan caught her eye and rolled his eyes in mock annoyance.

"Veronica?" Duncan said, calling her attention back to him. She'd have to explain before Logan and Lilly reached them or she'd have to wait until later when it might be too late.

"Oh, just that Parker's little friend Anna saw you and Elsa practically having sex in the hallway upstairs. You know, before you opened the door and went to actually have sex." Veronica told him. Duncan closed his eyes and let out a small groan. "She's actually pretty proud to be able to gossip about something, so if you don't want it getting out you better go find her."

Duncan gave her a swift nod and stalked off in search of Anna just as Logan and Lilly arrived.

"That was weird, Lilly didn't even get a chance to drive him away with her incessant chatter." Logan commented, watching Duncan's back disappear into the crowd. "Is DK pissed at me?"

"Yes." Veronica told him with mock seriousness. Logan looked shocked for a moment when he looked back at her, but he seemed hear the joke in her voice and smiled. "He's extremely angry and that's why he took off, because you got here."

Logan smiled and took a sip of his beer before commenting. "Well then, I think I'm going to go find him, harass him a bit." Logan handed Veronica his beer before popping the cork on the bottle of champagne he had brought over. "May the bridges I burn light the way." He handed the champagne bottle to Lilly and took his beer back from Veronica, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. "Make sure right back here by midnight." He whispered and then disappeared into the crowd, following Duncan's earlier path.

"It figures that Logan would relate to Dylan the most." Lilly commented, pouring some of the champagne into her glass. Veronica downed her chardonnay and held out her own glass for Lilly to fill.

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked as she took a sip of the champagne. She remembered several parties here at the Kane Estate when they were younger, when Logan and Lilly would sneak bottles of champagne away from the bar and upstairs where she and Duncan were waiting. Their own private parties upstairs drinking champagne out of the colored glasses that Celeste kept in all the bathrooms while the adults drank theirs out of crystal and mingled with the important people of Neptune. It was strange to think that they'd were now giving the fancy parties and, someday, their kids would be sneaking champagne and having their own parties upstairs while they had cocktail parties downstairs.

"I mean, that Logan and Dylan are practically the same person." Lilly said, referencing Dylan McKay from the original 90210. When they were younger they'd been obsessed with 90210, discovering it only after the show had ended. Last summer Lilly had bought all of the seasons on DVD and they'd been slowly making their way through the ten seasons.

"I knew it was a mistake to let him watch it with us." Veronica laughed, sitting down on the bottom stair.

Lilly sat down next to her, laughing. "I like how you say that, like he had a choice. If I remember correctly, you basically forced him."

"Yeah, well…" Veronica shrugged.

"Yeah. Well." Lilly repeated, grinning at her best friend.

"You know, if Logan is Dylan, that makes Duncan Brandon." Veronica joked, draining her glass of champagne.

"And who does that make Dick? David?" Lilly asked, filling up both her and Veronica's glasses with more champagne.

"No. Dick is _totally_ Steve. Piz is David." Veronica laughed, leaning her head against Lilly's shoulder for a moment. "We've only made it through season two, we'll have to wait to see if we find anyone cool enough to be Wallace."

"Did you know that Weevil would be here?" Lilly's voice is quiet and almost timid, a marked difference from her tone thirty seconds ago.

"I did actually." And now she feels guilty about it, about knowing he was coming and not warning Lilly first. Mostly though, she feels guilty that she had been the one to invite him and hadn't cleared it with her best friend first.

"Personally I really can't believe that he has the nerve to come, to show up _here_." Lilly's voice is edging off timidity and straight into anger. Veronica knows it's only a short trip to rage and after that comes the public confrontations that Lilly loved so much in high school. "I mean, it's my brother's house. _My_ old house! He had to have known I would be here and yet he came even though he slept with me two months ago and never called."

Veronica felt a weight settle in the pit of her stomach and she wished that Logan hadn't disappeared into the crowd, chasing after his own best friend. She needed back up and that amazing ability Logan had for diffusing Lilly's anger. It's a little ironic that Logan is the one that keep her from causing a scene when not too long ago he was most often the cause of those scenes, but it's almost as if the experience has somehow made him more adept at navigating her rage. Lilly has never once caused a scene with Veronica, never had reason to publicly confront her in the quad, so Veronica has little to no experience in these matters and – despite being the closest thing either of them have to a sister – she's incapable of diffusing these type of situations.

"Lil, calm down. Please." She pleads with her best friend and hopes that she backs off enough to avoid the scene and the humiliation and the fact that she'd be revealing things that Veronica knows that, in the light of day and sobriety, she'd never want revealed.

"I thought he'd call you know? That after years of being apart he'd miss me. After months and months of building a friendship and an actual relationship outside of the sex stuff, he'd see that maybe it was more than just my desperate need to get back at Celeste. That after everything he'd see that I actually care now, even if I pretended like I didn't then and pushed him and all his buttons on that trip…" She trailed off and Veronica saw the rage taper off and veer into something more maudlin.

"I'm just never going to be able to get it right. I wasn't the best person back then and it's always going to color people's views of me. I screwed up, I know that. I'm not the only teenage girl in the history of the world to screw up and sleep with an older man or a married man or someone so completely inappropriate, but it feels like I am. Most girls that do stuff like this…" She trails off again and Veronica realizes exactly how drunk Lilly is. Her words are starting to slur a bit more noticeably and her sentimentality and self pitying are trademarks of a wasted Lilly.

"I know." Veronica helps her up off the step, taking both her wine glass and the nearly empty champagne bottle from her and setting them on the floor by their feet, along with her own glass. "I think you need to lie down."

Veronica glances at the clock as she helps Lilly up the stairs. Nearly midnight. She has enough time to get the older girl to her old bedroom, now decorated in tasteful muted colors and free of clutter, and be back for her kiss. She'd get Lilly to bed and taken care of and be back for a kiss that, superstitiously speaking, guaranteed a love-life for the following year.

"Want to hear something that'll cheer you up?" Veronica asks as they clumsily make their way down the hall to the bedroom that was once marked with a wooden plaque that said 'Lilly' in scrolling letters. She's about to betray one friend to cheer up another, but in her, admittedly, drunken haze it doesn't feel so much like a betrayal as a sharing of funny stories. "Duncan is totally fucking his nanny."

"Seriously? The Donut is such a cliché." Lilly laughs as they open her old door and she sighs in relief before stumbling across the room to collapse on the bed that replaced hers. She's asleep before Veronica has her shoes off, snoring loudly, and for a moment Veronica longs to crawl onto the bed with her and fall asleep. She doesn't though, because drunk Lilly kicks and tosses and turns and is basically a nightmare to share a bed with. Instead she continues to disrobe her friend so she doesn't tangle in the pretty silver sheath dress that she's wearing.

January 2009

~Logan~

He lifted his head and grinned down at his girlfriend. Veronica's lips were slightly swollen and red from their mini-make out session at the bottom of Duncan's stairway, surrounded by at least eighty of their closest friends. Her eyes had yet to open, but her lashes fluttered a bit as she hummed under her breath, a small smile forming.

"God, you're good at that." It was a low whisper, and if he'd been separated from her by more than an inch or two he wouldn't have heard it.

"Likewise, baby." Logan's voice was husky, gruff from the lust that had surged through him as they'd kissed. He stared – transfixed – at her lips before dipping his head down again, unable to resist kissing her again.

"Where'd Lilly go?" Piz asked, appearing beside them suddenly and interrupting. Veronica tore her mouth away from his to reply and Logan let his lips fall back to her, pressing into the hollow beneath her ear.

"She's upstairs. Passed out before midnight." He heard her reply and raised his own eyebrows at the information as he pressed kisses down her neck, coming to the sweet spot at it's base. He both heard and felt Veronica gasp as he made contact, spreading a little moisture as his mouth opened to suck in the skin. He also heard Piz chuckle before continuing.

"She made me promise to kiss her at midnight. Didn't want the bad luck of not getting kissed at midnight to follow her around all year." Piz explained to Veronica, laughter evident in his voice. "Although it looks like you two won't have that problem."

"She's going to be pissed she didn't at least make it till midnight though." Veronica told the other boy, continuing the conversation way passed it's ending in Logan's opinion. He pressed his hand flat against her lower back, urging her to end the conversation and participate in what he was doing instead. "I think she was upset, the whole New Year's Eve and no date thing. She had a lot to drink, more than usual. At least since she's been out of the coma and…"

Logan pulled away, his mouth making a wet popping sound and he watched her stumble a little when he removed his hands as well. "Do you mind?" he asked her, a little exasperated.

"No, not really. I thought you were doing okay by yourself." Veronica informed him, eyes full of laughter, but thankfully holding in the actual laughter. Unlike Piz who was walking away, booming.

"Lilly passed out?" Logan asked, intending to make her suffer now.

"Yep. After _you_ gave her a bottle of champagne and walked off she was fine, but half a bottle later however…" Veronica reached for him, arms stretched up towards his neck and he admired the way her black strapless dress shifted on her. It reminded him of the one she had worn to prom senior year, probably _was_ the dress she had worn. Her hair was swept up off her neck, pinned back in a messy bun that was indescribably sexy for some reason, showing off the back of her neck that felt rather illicit to him. Her eyes were smoky looking with make up and she just had a light coating of clear gloss on – when he wasn't busy kissing it off – and the effect was oddly intimate. Somehow, completely made up in a completely intentional way, she looked like she was in the middle of their bedroom, in the middle of undressing and unintentionally sexy. He felt both proud to show her off and jealous that anyone else saw her this way.

"However…" Logan prompted, drawing the 'r' sound out to sound a little like a growl as his hands itched to grab at her, pull her in for another kiss, but he just let her hands wrap around his neck.

"However, she soon after started to get more and more depressing about the Weevil thing." Veronica told him, her hands playing with the short hair at the nape of his neck, sending tingles down his spine.

"Upset that she slept with him? Upset he never called? Or upset that he showed up at the party with someone else?" Logan asked, his hands finally coming up to rest on her hips, wishing that all this talking was over and they could just be kissing again.

"Umm… he's here with someone?" Veronica asked, pulling back so her hands slid down his neck, over his shoulders and pressed against his chest, pushing him a way a little so she could look him in the eyes with that stern expression of hers. The one that demanded answers that he didn't have.

"Yeah, another Mexican chick. At first I thought that it was Carmen, because you she kind of looked like her, you know? Then–" Logan explained only to be interrupted by Veronica.

"Because all Mexicans look alike?" She was annoyed with him now, taking a small step back from him.

"Because they're all brown? No… that wasn't it." He pandered, letting the jackass take over a bit, knowing that it annoyed her to no end. "Oh, wait, it was because it was Carmen's sister. You remember Isobel, right?"

"Yes." He smirked, feeling smug at her contrite expression, her succinct answer that reeked of embarrassment.

"It's her. Weevs ran into her a couple weeks ago and invited her because she was basically ditched for winter break. She was supposed to go skiing with all her friends or something like that, I stopped paying attention." Logan reached out to her, running his fingers up and down her neck.

"You stopped paying attention?" She asked, her eyes flicking off to his side, focusing on something behind him. He let his fingers wrap around her thin neck, intending to pull her into for a kiss. He was going to pull her in and whisper in her ear about how he'd caught sight of her and been unable to focus on anything except the way she looked in this dress. About how he was inventing excuses to bail on the rest of the night and exactly what he was going to do to her when they got home, exactly where on her body he'd be kissing her when the clock stuck twelve. Instead she pulled away just as Duncan's voice called out to them.

"You seen my sister?" Duncan asked. He continued to stare at his girlfriend as she explained where Lilly was and why.

"Good, because…" Duncan trailed off as Parker and her mousy haired friend bounced up to the group, Casey trailing behind them.

"Hi again, Veronica. Logan." Anna grinned so perkily at them and Logan was grateful that she'd soon be gone. She was a nice enough girl – polite, moderately pretty and, according to Parker, fairly loyal – but she was just so damn perky all the time. And nosy without realizing that she was nosy, which was a trait that Logan hated more than anything. He hated when people he didn't know tried to get information out of him about things he thought were none of their business.

"This place is like a fashion show. Between you and Parker and Lilly… you're all just so fashionable, like you belong in a magazine." Her eyes traveled up and down Veronica's body before glancing at Parker in her baby blue silk dress and silver heels. Logan glanced at Parker's shoes again before looking down at Veronica's feet again.

"Are you two wearing the same shoes?" Logan asked, trying to contain his laugh. Now that he really looked he could see that they were the exact same pair of shiny silver stilettos with splashes of glitter causing them to sparkle, like they had run through a puddle of the stuff.

"We're all wearing the same shoes. Lilly thought it would be fun so she bought us each a pair and made us a promise to wear them tonight." Parker told him, moving her foot around so he could see it sparkle. Anna let out a long 'oooh' and 'ahhh', as if she'd never seen a pair of shoes before.

"You are so lucky, PJ." Anna cooed, her envious gaze flicking between Veronica and Parker's feet.

Logan snorted a little, "PJ?"

"Parker Jean. And no, you may _never_ call me that." Parker told him, hands on her hips.

"I'm going to go get something to drink and maybe a little bit of whatever is in the kitchen. I'm starving." Veronica announced, trying to sneak away from the crowd.

"I'll join you." Anna said, perky as always, and Logan watched Veronica stiffen. If he had to guess Anna was the reason she was suddenly starved. He couldn't really blame Veronica, the constant perkiness was a little hard to handle. And, for some reason, Anna seemed to think that Veronica would be the weak link and divulge some kind of information about all the stuff she was so desperately. _Fat chance, I'm more likely to spill that Ronica._

Logan watched as Veronica weaved deftly through the crowd like a pro, Anna bounced in her wake, trying to keep up.

"So, you're sleeping with your nanny?" Logan asked without preamble, turning to Duncan as the words fell out of his mouth.

"God. Veronica can't keep anything to herself anymore, can she?" Duncan said, swearing a little under his breath.

"Actually I watched the two of you 'sneak' upstairs for a quickie." Logan lifted his hands up to do air quotes as he stressed the word 'sneak'. He smirked as Duncan blushed, obviously realizing exactly how bad he was at the stealth stuff. "Next time you don't want anyone to know, you probably shouldn't ram your tongue down her throat in full view of the party."

"Damn. I've been following that Anna chick around all night to make sure she didn't spill and here the entire party probably got look." Duncan leaned back against the newel post at the bottom of the stairs.

"That's why you've been hanging out with her? You've been trying to do damage control?" Parker asked Duncan, a hint of warning in her voice. Logan could see that Parker was – rightfully – protective of her friend's feelings. She knew how harsh they could all be on the newcomers, and she'd threatened Logan and pleaded with Veronica and bribed Lilly to be nice to the girl. They had been true to their promises of civility, but it seemed that she hadn't realized how carelessly mean Duncan could be.

"Well, yeah. It's not like I wanted to spend my entire night hanging out with _her_." Duncan responded, obviously not catching onto the danger in her voice.

"Why not?" The danger had not been avoided and now there was no way Duncan could miss the anger in Parker's voice. "Isn't she pretty enough? I mean, I get that you've _obviously_ got a thing for blondes, but it's not like you have to date her. Or sleep with her. Is it really so hard to just be nice to my friend?"

"I don't… I didn't mean..." Duncan stammered, trying to calm Parker while also trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. His eyes cast about for help as he finished lamely, "She's nice."

"Nice." Parker was not impressed, nor was she going to let her best friend off the hook. "Why is it that you and Logan and Veronica, even Lilly, all say the word 'nice' like it's an insult? Like being nice isn't a good trait?"

"It's good to be nice." Duncan started at the same time that Logan asked, "Wait, why am I suddenly in trouble?"

"Because, you're all such snobs about how jaded you are. Anyone shows any little bit of enthusiasm for anything and you call her _nice_." Parker scolded them both and, Logan had to admit, that time 'nice' really had sounded like an insult. And the way she said it sounded an awful lot like the way both he and Veronica had said a couple days before when they had been talking about Anna on the drive home. When they had called her _nice_, like it was code for naïve-hick-that-will-never-understand-our-lives, but they hadn't been stupid enough to say it like that in front of Parker.

"Veronica and I have been nothing but…" Logan hesitated a moment before continuing, "_nice_ to her."

Logan saw Casey jerk his head off to the side, signaling him to make a break for it. Parker gave Logan a cold stare before turning back to Duncan and he slunk away, avoiding Parker's gaze.

"She's being really protective about Anna, man. I'm sorry." Casey whispered as they snuck out of sight. "It's been like this all week. Yesterday she asked why my grandmother didn't leave the company to my parents. All I said is that I'd rather not discuss it and Parker pulled me into a room and went off about how I was being rude."

"You were being rude?" Logan asked, raising his eyebrows. They had stopped just inside the doorway of the kitchen and his eyes automatically began searching for Veronica.

"Yeah, I know. Anna keeps fishing for more information, for some kind of inside scoop. If I didn't know any better I'd think that she was an undercover reporter or something." Casey leaned back against the wall and sighed. Logan felt bad for him. He'd been the one to tell Parker to invite Anna, offered to let them both stay with him at the Gant Estate until she left.. He couldn't get away from nosey-Anna and overprotective-Parker, and he couldn't really comment unless he wanted a fight with his girlfriend.

"She's leaving in a few days, though. Right?" He prayed she'd be gone by time they all headed up to the Kane ski chalet in a couple days. There was no way he was going to be able to spend his one week of relaxation actually relaxing if Anna was up there.

"Yeah. She's flying out on the fourth, so Parker and I are going to meet you guys up at Duncan's parent's place on Monday." Casey shifted around, glanced back into the other room and then resettled against the wall.

"Good." Logan blurted, backtracking quickly. "I mean, there really aren't enough rooms and…" He trailed off at Casey's laughter.

"It's okay, I can't stand her either and I've been looking forward to her leaving since she got here. Parker is just really worried about losing her old friends from high school. Anna's practically the only one she talks to on a regular basis anymore. She loves you guys, but she feels like she's slowly losing all her old friends, so she's been real protective of… Anna!" Casey exclaimed as the girl in question bounced up to them, Veronica behind her with her cheeks puffed out.

"You get some food, babe?" Logan asked, slinging his arm around Veronica and steering her out of the kitchen, abandoning Casey to Anna and her perkiness. He leaned his head down to whisper in her ear, "Let's go home."

Veronica nodded enthusiastically, setting her wine glass down on a table as they headed for the door. "Thank god, I'm exhausted."

"Not _too_ exhausted, though. Right? I mean, I didn't have some plans for when we got home. A little party for just the two of us." Logan spun her around and pressed a kiss to her forehead as he walked her backwards out the front door.

The knocking – the _pounding_ – woke Ares before it woke either Logan or Veronica. Veronica, cuddled into his side, shoved at him sleepily.

"Stop." He groaned, his arms tightening around her slightly as he tried to burry his head further into his pillow to block out the pounding. If it wasn't for the damn dog barking he could almost ignore the pounding.

Veronica pushed at him again before shifting back in the bed, planting her feet on him and trying to shove him out of the bed. "Go, get the door before they break it down."

Groaning, Logan slid out of the bed and felt his way blindly down the hallway, refusing to open his eyes. He stumbled down the stairs, leaned his head against the front door before taking a deep breath, opening his eyes and then the door.

"Lilly." He was so not amused, by the time he and Veronica had gotten to sleep it was two-thirty in the morning. "What time is it?"

"Eight. I need to talk to you." Lilly shoved her way into the house, pushing passed Logan. She practically stomped into the living room and down on the couch.

"About…" Logan rubbed a hand through his hair, following Lilly into the living room and sat across from his friend.

"I need to know what happened." She said succinctly, not giving him any clues about what she talking about.

"Like, in general? Or is there a specific event you'd like to be informed of?" Logan leaned back into the couch cushions and longed for his bed upstairs and the warm and mutinous blonde in it.

"You realize it's the new year?" Lilly asked, somewhat maniacally.

"Yeah, I think there was something about that on TV last night. One year ends, the new one starts and… oh yeah, there was that little party we went to last night, I believe you were mostly responsible for it." Logan answered sarcastically, raising his head to give her his best you're-annoying-me-so-please-get-on-with-it look.

"Right. And I'd like to know that I _didn't_ start the new year with a scene." Lilly shifted nervously on the couch, not looking him in the eye.

"That's funny, you've always loved scenes. In fact, I remember our New Year's Eve parties from before and you always strived to begin the new year with a scene worthy of an Oscar." Logan grinned as her head snapped up and eyes narrowed. "No, you didn't start the year with a scene. You didn't even make it to the new year, actually. Passed out before it hit midnight."

"Okay. So I didn't start the year with the proverbial bang, but I didn't end 2008 with one either, right?" Lilly asked, a slight edge to her voice.

"No, I don't think so. As far as I know Veronica got you upstairs and into bed before you did anything." Logan studied her for a minute before continuing. "Is there a specific scene in which you're afraid you caused?"

"Weevil was there. With a girl." Lilly told him, leaning back into the cushions of the couch she was sitting on. She pulled her knees up to her chest and balanced her heels on the edge. "I was upset and I might have drank a little too much because of it."

"Huh… you don't say." Logan teased, remembering how she'd been following him around the party after Weevil's arrival with an endless stream of chatter. She'd talked mile a minute, only stopping to catch her breath or down another glass of alcohol. He'd last seen her with Veronica – leaving the girls and the bottle of champagne he'd originally gotten for _him_ and Veronica – while he went off in search of Duncan.

"It's just that… Well, I mean, it was my brother's house and a party I was throwing and he showed up. When he came through the door I thought that maybe this was it, he'd finally decided to stop avoiding me and we could talk about the whole sleeping together thing. We haven't really seen each other since then, except for Thanksgiving and he was gone before we could get a chance to talk alone.

"I thought maybe we'd talk and he'd say that he was sorry and that he cared and then midnight would hit and we'd kiss. I thought everything was going to work out, for once. It's ridiculous and I feel really stupid, but that's what I thought because I didn't think he'd actually bring a date to my party. I thought we'd end up together, you know?"

"Lilly…" Logan started, but his voice trailed off when he realized that he really didn't know what to say to her about anything. Veronica was supposed to be the expert in girl talk and Lilly, this was her area. Sure he knew Lilly and could wing it on the small things, but what she really needed was Veronica and her extensive knowledge on all things Lilly. Veronica would know what to say to make Lilly feel better, or how to tell Lilly the truth of the matter without breaking her.

"I know." Lilly stood and began pacing in front of her couch, her hands flying out in emphatic gestures as she continued. "It was a stupid little fantasy and I feel stupid even admitting it, but I really thought it might happen. With everything that you and Veronica have been through together, all the crap you put each other through, you guys made it. You're in love and together and everything worked out for you. Same with Dick and Mac. He wasn't nice to her and she had that whole thing with Beaver and all of that and they ended up together. Against the odds, they're together and going to have a baby and while it's scary thinking of Dick procreating, it's also kind of sweet. So I just keep thinking 'why can't that happen for me and Weevil'? I mean, he cared enough at some point to get my name tattooed on him, so why can't he care about me like that now?"

"I don't think it's that simple." Logan began as Lilly dropped back onto the couch. "But I can tell you that he didn't bring a date. You remember Carmen? Dated Tad?" Logan looked to Lilly and she nodded. "It was Carmen's little sister, Isobel. Weevil said that he ran into her a couple days ago and apparently she was supposed to go skiing with her friends but she didn't have enough money or something so they went with out her. He invited her along because he felt bad that her friends had ditched her and she'd be spending the night alone with her grandmother. They're not dating."

"Great. Now I'm not only a jealous freak, I'm a jealous freak that let a huge misunderstanding get in the way of my big plans. I got drunk and passed out and didn't get my midnight kiss from the boy I like – love – or the back up kiss I arranged with Piz. I rang in the new year passed out in the same room I grew up in." Lilly looked close to tears now as she dropped her head into her hands. "In fact, it was the same bed. It may have all been redecorated, but it's still my old room and my old bed and I did the same thing I always did. I overreacted and did something stupid and nothing has really changed has it?" Lilly looked up at him and he could see that the tears had started to fall. "Veronica is still cleaning up after me and I'm still doing the same things. I'm still chasing after the same boy and it's all the same. Everything that I've tried to change about myself is still there, still lurking around for the moment I let my guard down so it can start right back up again."

"No. Everything has changed Lilly, you're just never going to see it if you're always punishing yourself for it. You want to change everything about yourself, but you weren't all bad. Yeah, you did some stupid things but you were also a lot of fun. There had to have been a reason why Veronica and I loved you so much, right? It couldn't have been because you slept with my dad and a biker and hate your mom and every bad thing. I mean, we loved you because you were fun and impulsive. Yeah, the impulsive thing sometimes led to some bad stuff, but most of the time it led to adventures and fun and things we never would have done if it hadn't been for you.

"You were creative and sometimes that led to us doing the stupid things we did, but those were the stories that Veronica and I like to share the most. The times we did something stupid because you thought it sounded fun, or that it seemed like a good idea when you thought of it. We loved you because you would do anything for your friends, and even though I was sometimes your boyfriend and sometimes your ex, I was always your friend. There were things we loved about you, things we wouldn't want you to change and there are things you're never going to be able to change. You need to remember that not everything about you was bad."

"I'm so tired of trying so hard to be different, Logan. It's kind of exhausting." Lilly told him. She sounded so tired, so defeated, that he had to resist the urge to go to her, to comfort her because he knew that she wouldn't appreciate it. The Lilly he knew didn't take comfort in him because that was too weak, only Veronica was allowed to see that side of her. "I think I'm going to stop. I liked who I was, mostly, and I think that I'm just going to try to be a better version of my former self instead of this completely new version I've been trying so hard to create over the last year."

"Okay." Logan nodded, unsure of what to say to her.

"Thanks, Logan." Lilly stood and he followed suit, unsure what to do next as they stood there, awkwardly staring at each other. "I'm gonna go, will you tell Veronica to call me later?"

Logan nodded again and watched Lilly leave the living room. He took a deep breath when he heard the front door open and shut, letting it out slowly before he turned to the stairs and went back to bed.

~Wallace~

He hadn't realized how nice Parker's room was before. Probably because he had never been allowed in it until now, but it was a really nice room. Briefly he wondered how long it was going to take him to stop thinking of it as Parker's room and start thinking of it as his room. His room with his own bathroom and room for his new king-size bed and all of his stuff. There were windows that he could open and natural lighting and no more basement.

It sucked a little that Lilly and Parker were moving into their own apartment now, that he was losing them as roommates. They nagged and bitched about how messy he was but they had been awesome roommates. It had been nice having the girls around, especially since Parker was such a caretaker and Lilly had always known where the best parties and clubs were and Mac had always been there to offer up tech support and free upgrades before she moved in with Dick.

At least he was getting a better room out of the deal.

"Dude, so when are the other b-ballers moving in?" Dick asked, coming into the room without knocking or invitation, tromping over to the bed and flopping down on it. "You need a video game set up in here."

"There's one down in the living room, Dick, you know that." Wallace informed him, continuing to pull clothes from the garbage bags he'd used to transfer his stuff up from the basement.

"Yeah, but that's communal. You need something in her for when you get bored at night." Dick sat up to stare at the empty wall directly in front of the bed. "Especially since you don't have Tamsin to entertain you anymore."

"I think I can survive without a massive television in my bedroom." Wallace told the blond surfer, an edge to his voice. "You know, studies have shown that TVs in the bedroom diminish your sex life."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem for you then, right? You and Tami broke up, so you don't really have a sex life to worry about anymore." Dick shot back, a smirk on his face that told Wallace that he wasn't falling for his attempt at freaking him out. "I on the other hand have a pregnant girlfriend, and you know what they say about knocked up chicks."

"Hey. Lilly just left with a load of stuff, but she said that Logan and Veronica should be back to pick up a couple of the big things." Piz announced as he strolled into Wallace's room.

_Doesn't anyone knock anymore?_ Wallace wondered, rolling his eyes. He should have stayed in the basement where you knew someone was coming because the basement stairs were officially the loudest and creakiest stairs on the planet.

"They still fighting?" Dick asked, a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, does anyone know what they're fighting about?" Piz asked, making himself comfortable on the recliner he and Wallace had dragged up from the basement the day before.

"No. V wouldn't share the details of her and Logan's current battle, but she's been giving him the silent treatment all morning so whatever it was I'm sure he'll be apologizing soon." Wallace gave up the task of putting his clothes away and flopped back onto his bed, giving Dick a hard shove in process.

"Fuck!" Dick exclaimed as he fell, making a loud thump when he hit the hardwood floor. His head popped up a second later and he leaned against the bare mattress, not bothering to even attempt to get back on the bed.

"It's not the silent treatment anymore. There were sniping a lot when they left the last time." Piz informed them, putting the footrest up on the recliner and leaning back. "So, I've decided that I'm not riding back over to Parker and Lilly's condo with them to help unpack."

"I'm not going over there to help them unpack their crap, it's not like they've ever actually helped with any of the moves in and out of this place. We have to load everything into the cars and then pull it all out again. Then we'll spend the next five hours over there while Lilly and Parker 'a little to the left' us to death." Dick groused, crossing his arms in front of his chest like that would keep him away from the possibility of more hard labor.

"I like that you both think that you're going to have a choice on either of those things. Veronica is going to get here and command you both into the back of the Range Rover and you'll spend all afternoon hanging Parker's pictures and moving Lilly's furniture." Wallace told them both before sliding off his bed and heading to the door. "Speaking of, I'm going to head downstairs so I can't be accused of laying around while they do all the work. If they're fighting it means they're both in bad moods and that means nobody is safe."

The other two boys grudgingly got up and moved to the door also, hearing a car pull up and two doors slamming shut. It wasn't until they were halfway down the stairs that the front door opening and they could hear the yelling.

"Go back up, go back up." Wallace whispered urgently turning and pushing at Dick and Piz to about face back up the stairs. The three practically collapsed in a heap at the top, limbs tangled in their desperation to get out of sight of the battle currently going on in their living room. Their desperation to stay out of the crosshairs of the two people who brought new meaning to the term 'low blow'.

Silently, the three boys crawled back to Wallace's room and eased the door shut, all the while praying it wouldn't creak.

"I don't think they heard us." Wallace let out the breath he'd been holding, flooding with relief.

Wallace leaned up against the bed, his legs splayed out in front of him and hands laid flat on the wooden floor. Dick sprawled face down on the floor in front of him and Piz was pressed against the wall next to the door, legs curled against him as if he was trying to take up the least amount of room possible.

"What are you doing?" Dick whispered as Piz reached up to the door knob.

Piz shrugged, continuing to turn the knob a little and open the door a crack, just enough to where Logan and Veronica's voice were no longer muffled. "I wanna know what they're fighting about.

Dick slid his body closer to the door so he could hear, angling his ear at the crack. "Something about Lilly and Weevil and not wanting things to get screwed up beyond control." Dick whispered back to Wallace, who stubbornly refused to participate out of loyalty to his best friend.

"Did you know that Lilly and Weevil slept together at Duncan's party back in October?" Piz asked, looking between Wallace and Dick with shock and amazement written all over his face.

"Oh, yeah. She told me while we were braiding each other's hair last week." Wallace whispered back furiously. _I swear living and working with Lilly and Parker has turned him into the biggest gossip ever_.

"Did she do your nails while you talked about _your_ breakup?" Dick asked and the two of them snickered.

"Shut up." Wallace snapped, almost forgetting to whisper.

Piz pressed his ear against the door again. "Apparently they slept together and Weevil never called her back."

"We shouldn't be doing this." Wallace whispered, almost to himself.

"Dude, it's fine. It's not like they'll ever know, and we're trapped up here for the foreseeable future, unless you want to tie your bed sheets together and shimmy down the side of the house." Dick whispered back.

"I don't think my sheets would hold us, but if you want to try…" Wallace gestured to the window before glaring at Piz. "Their fighting is none of our business."

"Come on, since when does it matter if it's our business or not?" Piz asked, waving Wallace off as he turned his attention back to the door and the fight.

"Yeah, Wallace. There's nothing else to do up here." Dick whispered over his shoulder as he strained to hear what was being said downstairs. "If you didn't want us listening to the fight for entertainment, you should've gotten a TV in here."

~Lilly~

"Happy Birthday to _me_!" Lilly exclaimed, downing a shot of something the bartender had told her was called 'strawberry sex'. It tasted exactly like what she thought bottled sex would taste like, actually. Sweet and naughty, almost forbidden with that burn that the alcohol made as it went down. She'd have to remember this one for later.

People milled about below the balcony, yelling out a communal "Whoooo!" every time she took a shot. It made her grin to see everyone having fun in her name. Everyone dressed up in fun dresses and suits, like it was 1929 and they really were at a speakeasy instead of an old art deco mansion deep in the 09er district of Neptune.

She'd been disappointed when Veronica had brushed off the idea of a party, refusing to offer up her house. Duncan had been just as stubborn, whining about how the house was still a disaster from New Year's and he didn't want a bunch of people trampling through it again, so soon after the last time. Logan had 'accidentally' let it slip that he was taking Veronica away for the weekend of her birthday and they would just have to celebrate later. Parker and Mac had pretended as if it hadn't existed, like they'd completely forgotten. Lilly never really had all that much faith in the boys' ability to remember dates, and they had seemingly proved her point by never mentioning it.

She'd been pissed when she found herself getting ready to go out alone this evening. Near tears, she had bitched about how her friends were lame and didn't appreciate her and how she'd always made sure their birthdays were fun and that they had felt important. She'd been enraged when she'd gotten a call from Parker that her car had broken down outside of some weird house and she needed Lilly to pick her up as soon as possible. Lilly had alternately fought off tears and contained screams of rage the entire drive up to an address she'd never even noticed before.

The house had been dark, and when Lilly had called Parker's phone she'd had to follow the ringing up the front steps and to the front door. She'd gulped and knocked on the door, only to have it creak open. She considered calling the cops for a second, fearing that she was entering into a set up worthy of a horror movie, but she'd tamped down on the that and walked in. The lights had flipped on and all her friends had yelled surprise and she really had to hold back the tears then. Everyone decked out in twenties clothes, like they were in some old Jazz club. She always wanted a twenties theme party and Veronica had delivered.

"Thanks for this." Lilly told her best friend, leaning her head against Veronica's shoulder.

"It wasn't just me. Logan helped a lot, and Duncan practically funded the whole operation." Veronica told her, grinning drunkenly. She looked cute in her outfit of pinstriped trousers, a man's white dress shirt and suspenders topped with a black fedora. Her hair was pulled back into a tight low bun and she stood a couple inches taller in her black patent leather heels.

Lilly was made up more traditionally, with ropes of pearls around her neck and marceled hair, skyscraper heels and a champagne colored, gorgeously beaded silk sheath. Most of the other girls at the party had gone for the cliché flapper dresses, but Veronica had picked out Lilly's outfit and – like with everything Veronica did – she had done the research on society fashion in the twenties.

The boys were all pretty much dressed the same. Pinstriped suits and fedoras or zoot suits. It was crazy to see everyone dressed up. The people she would have graduated high school with, back to celebrate their most famous classmate. People she actually went to college with, some who seemed a little awed by the glitz and glamour that surrounded them.

Lilly leaned back into the cushions that were piled high in the makeshift VIP area that Logan had insisted be set up on one of the balconies. She surveyed the crowd from her lap of luxury and basked in the glory that was her birthday party, surrounded by her favorite people in the world in this closed off section of the party.

"Seriously, though, it's perfect." Lilly told Veronica again, feeling tears well up in her eyes again. She seemed to be hyperemotional today, and the alcohol she had consumed was exacerbating the problem. "I really thought that nobody care, that everyone forgot and I was going to be alone tonight." Geeze, she was being maudlin tonight and couldn't seem to stop.

"Hey, let's go mingle with the little people." Veronica suggested, standing up and pulling Lilly with her. They passed by Parker and Casey, reunited after nearly two weeks apart, and making out like teenagers at a high school party. Mac was curled up in the pillows with a champagne glass full of ginger ale sitting on the glass table along with a bowl of fruit Dick had brought her, she was fast asleep with her hand resting on her slightly rounded stomach.

On the stairs they passed Wallace, talking to some girl she'd never seen before, obviously moving on from Tamsin and their recent break up. Piz stood at the bottom of the stairs holding two glasses of champagne while his girlfriend of the moment talked animatedly to a girl Lilly vaguely recognized from one of her classes. Logan and Duncan were involved in a poker game set up on one of the lower balconies.

"Hey Lilly." Carrie Bishop called from one of the gambling tables. She and Susan Knight held glasses of champagne as they placed their bids on a game of twenty-one. "Veronica."

"Hi, Carrie." Veronica greeted in a friendly tone and Lilly was a little surprised that she and Carrie had somehow buried the hatchet. Carrie had always hated that Veronica and Veronica had never really tried to get along with Carrie. Or Susan for that matter. "Hey Susan. How's your little boy?"

"Oh, he's great. My parents are watching him tonight. I don't get to go out all that often but, you know, Lilly's birthday parties were always pretty legendary."

_Susan has a kid?_ Lilly thought, giving them both a grin. "I think this one is my favorite." Lilly turned her grin on Veronica, throwing her arm around her best friend's shoulders as she leaned closer to the table and the two other girls. "Don't you think so?"

"It's really pretty. I love all the flowers." Carrie replied honestly and Lilly was a little shocked by the lack of bitchiness in the comment.

Lilly took a moment to look around at all calla lilies everywhere, some in vases and some just laid out on the tables. She'd bet anything that the flowers were Logan's idea. The boy did love his symbolism.

"I didn't even know this place existed." Susan commented, pulling Lilly's focus back to the conversation.

"Neither did I, but when I told Logan that I wanted to do a kind of twenties prohibition thing he called up one of his mom's old party planners to ask about locations. I guess the lady that lived here died last year and the family is looking to sell the place." Veronica explained, so easily engaging in conversation with these two girls she used to hate. It was a little weird.

"It's for sale?" Lilly asked, looking around the back of the estate at the pool and the gardens, the gazebo and the small woods edging the property. She couldn't imagine owning such a beautiful place and wanting to give it up.

"Yeah. I think if Logan could justify the fifteen bedrooms he'd buy it, but there's no reason for this much space when it's just the two of us." Veronica explained and the other two girls laughed with her. Lilly thought, just for a moment, that her best friend was insane not to let her boyfriend buy the place. Of course, he wouldn't have the money to do so until next month anyway. The topic of Logan's depleted trust fund was a major topic lately, that and the fact that Veronica was worried that he wouldn't make it until the second tier kicked in on his birthday next month.

"You know, I'm going to go see how Logan's doing at the poker table, maybe join in." Veronica announced before leaning in to whisper, "you going to be okay on your own?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Have fun." Lilly assured her friend before moving on from the table and Carrie and Susan, who had turned back to their gambling. It was odd, but it seemed that they were friendlier with Veronica now, more than they were with her.

She wandered a bit, moving from table to table, talking to as many people as she could. Everyone was there for her, for her birthday. Each time she'd arrive at a table the glasses would raise and someone would say 'To Lilly', followed by a round of 'hear, hear' and then sips of champagne.

She took small sips at first, but somewhere around her seventh or eighth table she'd caught sight of Weevil. He was dressed like a bootlegger. Brown trousers and a white men's dress shirt with suspenders, a newsboys hat folded and shoved into the back pocket of the pants. He looked great, but the next party would have to have a fifties theme just for him, so he could wear all that leather. Maybe she'd get a 'Pink Ladies' jacket and some tight black pants.

He was here, at her party. That was something, right? He hadn't spoken to her since October, but he was here at her party and he looked to be without a date. Logan had sworn that the girl from New Year's wasn't his girlfriend or a date or anything. Just the little sister of a friend, ran into her at the grocery store and took pity on her. _But if he's single, why has he _never_ called?_ Lilly thought, moving on to the next table, distractedly raising her glass as they toasted her. This time she drained the whole glass, they'd fill it back up at the next table.

In fact, she drained her glass at each of the next eight tables.

She loved that they were using actual champagne glasses instead of flutes. They were so much prettier than the flutes everyone used these days, which was probably a weird thing to think since they were molded on Marie Antoinette's left breast… or her right one. Whatever, didn't matter. They were molded on one of Marie Antoinette's boobs and they were pretty and she swore they got her drunker than the regular old champagne flutes. They were especially pretty when they did that whole champagne fountain thing that they did at the start of the night.

"I think… I think…" Lilly started and stopped hesitantly. She took a moment to catch her breath and her words before beginning again. "I think I'm drunk."

"Really?" Veronica asked, and even drunk Lilly could hear the laughter in her voice. "How can you tell?"

"There are signs." Lilly told her, dropping the champagne glass in the grass and flounced off towards the VIP balcony, knowing Veronica would follow. She grabbed another bottle of champagne before she started up the stairs, trusting Veronica to grab the glasses. She heard the clink of the glasses behind her and knew she was right.

"Maybe you should slow down a bit, Lilly." Veronica suggested from behind her. "You said you were going to take it slow tonight, remember?"

"It's my birthday, I decided that I'm just going to have fun." Lilly told her friend, coming to an abrupt halt at the top of the stairs. "Whoops. I think we're at the wrong balcony."

"Nope. Wallace has been trying to impress the ladies with his connections." Veronica told her, steering them to the corner where they'd stashed their stuff earlier in the evening. "Hey, you're in our spots." Veronica informed the two brunettes currently seated in the mass of cushions.

"I don't think that the seats are assigned." Bitch One slurred out.

"You'll have to go find somewhere else, we're having a conversation." Bitch Two joined in, giggling with Bitch One.

"I don't care." Lilly told her, not bothering to cover her sneer. "I said you're in our spot, now get off your asses and off the balcony."

"Listen, you need to chill and go away." Bitch Two snapped, reaching behind her and pulling out Veronica's small, black beaded clutch. "See, our stuff is here. Now go away."

The girls made a show of ignoring them, turning to each other to continue that supposed conversation. Veronica reached out and snatched her bag out of Bitch Two's hand. "Actually, that would be my bag and _our_ stuff and you need to move your asses. Now."

"Who died and made you boss?" Bitch Two asked, standing to tower over Veronica.

"Shouldn't you be getting home? Curfew and all." One asked, causing Two to dissolve in another bout of giggles. "I mean, you're what? Twelve?"

"Actually, I'm twenty-one and this is Lilly, she's twenty-two. You may have heard of her? You're at her party, the one I'm throwing. So you need to get out of here before I have you thrown out by my boyfriend." Veronica's voice may have sounded sweet but any idiot could hear the venom dripping from it. Lilly remembered a time when her best friend couldn't be mean if she tried extra hard, now she was mean and threatening and downright scary sometimes.

"Fine. Whatever." Two groused, grabbing her bag and what also happened to be Lilly's as she got up and started to lead the way off the balcony.

"Excuse me." Lilly snapped, reaching out and snatching back her own beaded clutch. "That is mine. Like _you_ could afford a Fendi."

The girl released the bag easily, gave another 'whatever' before walking off with her friend.

"That's right, walk away. I don't have the time or the energy to deal with _your_ crap." Lilly shouted after them. "I have my own life to deal with. My love life, which is basically crap because the guy I like slept with me and then ditched me."

"Lilly." Veronica tugged on her hand, trying to reel her in. "Calm down."

"No, I mean I slept with someone I actually like and he never calls me. That ever happen to _you_, Veronica?" Lilly could hear her voice getting louder, could feel the situation quickly getting beyond her control.

"Lilly, come on." Veronica pulled her down into the pile of cushions that they had won from the Bitches One and Two.

"Of course not, you only have sex with people you love. The Donut loved you and Logan would probably kill for you if you asked me to. I actually, _finally_, sleep with someone I love and Weevil never calls. It's like it never happened." Her voice was loud, too loud, it had to be carrying out over the party. Everyone could probably hear her, but it was like she couldn't remember how to lower her voice.

"Lilly, seriously, you need to calm down. You just need to calm down and, you know, be quiet." Veronica pleaded. Lilly saw Logan approaching them out of the corner of her eye.

"What's wrong, Lilly?" Logan asked, sitting down next to Veronica.

"Everything, everything is wrong. We're too fucked up to be together, right? Too fucked up for him to even call me. And I'm too in love with him to be with anyone else." Her voice had faded down to a pathetic cry. She should have slowed down earlier, should have taken sips instead of downing the champagne like water.

"It's okay, Lil. Come on, it'll work itself out." Veronica pulled her into a hug.

"Why did you even invite him? So he could ignore me up close?" Lilly sobbed into Veronica's arms.

"No, I think this was Logan's incredibly brilliant stab at match making." Veronica's voice held that edge that she had been using with Logan a lot lately. "Logan, do something. Everyone is staring."

"Like what?" Logan asked, sounding clueless, causing Veronica to scoff. Lilly laughed a little through her tears, Logan always knew exactly how to cause a diversion.

"I don't know. Go through Parker in the pool." Veronica told him.

"That'll get their attention." Logan chirped. "After all, it's not really an 09er party until…"

"Until someone ends up in the pool." The three of them finished together.

Lilly leaned into Veronica, sobbing onto her shoulder, trying not to get the black streaks of mascara and eyeliner on it. "I'm sorry, I'm ruining your shirt."

"Go ahead, ruin it." Veronica scooted closer and let her cry to the sounds of Parker's shrieks… at least until they were cut off by the splash.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, this was a really long one (A **REALLY** LONG ONE), probably the longest single entry I've ever written. There's only two or three more chapters left after this. I had a really hard time getting this chapter down because there was a lot I wanted in here. In fact I took a break from this chapter and wrote chapter 40 before coming back to it. I hope everyone likes it. Thank you and the next chapter will be up in a week.


	43. 40 Four

**Title:** The Return 40-Four  
**Rating:** NC-17 (There's some naughty stuff at the end)  
**Word Count:** 14,132  
**Characters/Pairings:**Lilly I, Weevil, Parker, Piz, Veronica, Mac, Logan, Wallace, Dick, Madison, OMC _(mentions: Celeste and Jake Kane, Duncan Kane, Keith Mars, Trina Echolls, Aaron Echolls, OFC, Lilly II)_  
**Spoilers:** All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Literally, _nothing_. So don't sue me over this, because you won't get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been _way_ different.

**A/N:** This takes place **BEFORE** chapter 37, kind of like a flash back to some important moments in the year between chapters 36 and 37. Remember that for when you're reading. Also, sorry this took so long to get posted, I've had the busiest month ever with weddings and funerals and festivals galore. Plus my computer deleted chapter 41&42 and while I have a lot of it still in my head I have to rewrite a large chunk of 41 (b/c about 80% was saved on an external drive) and all of 42. Hopefully that will get done in between An Ri Ra this week and the apple festival/celebration next weekend.

* * *

**The Return**

**40**

**Four**

Hour 1

18 January 2008 – 3:00pm

~Lilly~

She didn't seek him out. In fact she'd been actively avoiding him for the last two and half months, but there's only so much effort one can put into avoiding someone else when there's so much to do. She had assumed that the campus was big enough for her to meet her friends for a late lunch and _not_ run into the one single person she was avoiding. Unless it was the simple act of avoiding him – if avoiding him was at all simple – that made the universe conspire against her by shoving her into his path. Literally. She'd probably have a bruise from the encounter of his shoulder slamming into hers.

"Oh, I'm sor–" Weevil began before cutting himself off and staring into her face for a moment. "Lilly? You go here now?"

She was still a little stunned at her poor luck. Poor timing? She didn't know which to blame for this, probably both, but she would probably take it out on Veronica later. After all, if Veronica wasn't so insistent that they meet on campus instead of at a restaurant this never would have happened. "Huh?" _Oh God_. It just slipped out, the dumb reply as if she hadn't heard him, understood. It was almost automatic these days, her uttering a small 'huh' before the question or statement fully set in. It's like how Dick always seems to say 'what?' immediately after you finish speaking and then rushes on as if that had never happened.

"Oh, I asked if you started going to Hearst? The new semester just started and…" He trailed off as she started to shake her head.

"No, I was supposed to meet Veronica thirty minutes ago. I've been standing here, feeling a bit ridiculous. I think I've been stood up." She explained and wished, for the hundredth but now more desperately, that Veronica would hurry up and get here.

"Okay, well… I'll see you around Lilly." Weevil said, awkwardly, before continuing on his way.

Lilly turned to watch him leave, she rested her hand on the side of her purse and felt the familiar buzzing of her cell phone. She pulled it out and saw a text message from Veronica. She'd gotten a mani-pedi that morning so she'd put her phone on silent and never took it off. It was the fourth text from her best friend and there were also two missed calls as well. The voicemails said she'd be late, but the texts, which had come after, said she'd have to push the lunch to a dinner because she was in the middle of something with her professor. Lilly texted back that she'd meet her at Mamma Mia's pizzeria at 7 and not to be late.

"Weevil! Wait up!" Lilly called before common sense could set in and she changed her mind. He stopped and turned and, to his credit, didn't look at all annoyed or confused. No impatience either, merely waited for her to catch up to him. "It turns out that Veronica can't make it for even a late lunch and we're meeting up later. You want to get some coffee? Catch up?"

It was a bad idea and she couldn't believe she'd gone through with it, asked him for coffee where she'd have to spend at least a few very awkward minutes 'catching up' with him. She prayed that he'd say no, that he was still working. Or was meeting someone. Or had an appointment. Anything, she just needed him to have a little common sense even if she'd lost all hers today.

"Sure. There's a coffee cart and a bench not too far from here." Weevil suggested starting to walk in the direction of said cart and bench before turning to look at her. "Unless you want to go in to the food court, get some there?"

"No. The cart is great." She was dumbfounded that he'd so readily agreed. After the last time they'd been near each other she'd have expected him to take the out and turn down the coffee. He'd never been one to bother with niceties, didn't care about being polite or sparing her feelings.

"Great. It's not too far from here." He led the way and they walked in awkward silence for a minute or two. She was quietly dying inside, the embarrassment of this walk coursing through her.

_Oh, God. I hope he doesn't think I was asking him out. Isn't this how college kids date? Going for coffee?_ Technically, even though they were on a college campus, neither of them were actually _in_ college. But they were 'college age' right? This is how people their age start dating, how _adults_ begin a relationship. A cup of coffee today and dinner and sex tomorrow. _I can't do that, I'm celibate for at least another three and a half months._

She was panicking and jumping, like, five hundred steps ahead of herself and him but she didn't think the whole thing through first. From this point on she was going to have to have Veronica vet every single thing she did, make sure that she wasn't unintentionally asking someone out. Was it even _un_intentional? Hadn't she been daydreaming about running into him even as she avoided it so diligently?

"Their coffee is really good, plus they've got this biscotti and these scones that a great afternoon tide-you-over kind of thing. I know what you're thinking, but I stop here most days after my shift for a cup of coffee and a scone for the drive home or to the garage or whatever." Weevil told her as he handed over cash to the guy at the cart and waited for his order. Did she miss him ordering? Panicked right through the walk and his ordering and everything?

"Yeah, a scone is kind of manly – in London – but… Biscotti, Weevil?" Lilly teased, trying to mask her discomfort and confusion and misplaced panic. He couldn't think it was a date because he hadn't paid for her and it was more her accompanying him, _following_ him, on a coffee run he made almost everyday.

"I know, but Veronica actually started me on them. We met up for coffee a few times last year and it's at that point of day where she'd had lunch and it wasn't even close to dinnertime so she can't justify eating a whole meal so she buys a bunch of snacks. She shares… sometimes." Weevil explained and she could have sworn he was blushing a little. She didn't know if he was embarrassed about liking and ordering biscotti or if it was about meeting Veronica for coffee. Those meetings couldn't have been a date though, because she had never mentioned going on coffee dates with Weevil. _But she did mention how Weevil and her would meet up so he could help her out on cases._

"So you help Veronica with her cases a lot, huh? That's cool. I haven't gotten the chance yet, but all this spy stuff sounds like a lot of fun." Lilly joked, still somewhat uncomfortable, as she followed Weevil to an empty bench.

"It _sounds_ fun, but trust me, it's not exactly a laugh a minute. Veronica doesn't always get herself involved in the safe and easy cases. A lot of the time they're way more dangerous than she makes them sound." It was weird, he sounded like he was both scolding her for thinking what Veronica did was 'fun' and talking her best friend up. It sounded like he was a little in awe of her badassery. It's funny, but she seemed to have this affect on every single one of their friends, Logan more than anyone. She had always known that there was more lurking beneath the cotton candy surface of her best friend. Strapless red satin. An edgy haircut and taser in her purse.

"Trust me, I probably won't be invited on a stake out or anything anytime soon. Apparently I talk too much and I'm a bit of a distraction. Plus I don't think I'm what Logan had in mind when he said that she had to have someone there for protection on the dangerous cases. Although I think I could probably do a lot more damage than if she brought Piz along. He doesn't look like he does fisticuffs very well." Neither did she for that matter, but she could scratch and pull hair with the best of them.

"So how've you been?" Weevil asked, apparently done with the subject of Veronica and her spy work.

"Good, real good. I've been taking and completing equivalency exams for the Neptune public school district. They give me all this course work to study and then I take what would've been the end of the year exams for you after a couple weeks. My parents have hired tutors and, while my mother hates the fact that I've moved into a house with a bunch of college girls, they've all been really helpful with helping me with it all. Especially Mac and Veronica, who actually took the classes I'm trying to pass. In fact, Veronica is the one my mother hates but she's been the most helpful in getting me through the coursework and everything. Turned out she still had her notes from high school for me to study off of. I still have to do a bunch of these projects for different classes and, while she doesn't have the physical project anymore she does have all the notes and instructions and stuff, so it's been great. She won't let me cheat or anything, but she's been way more helpful than the tutors Celeste hired." She was rambling, she knew that. He was probably less than interested in how her school work was going. According to Veronica he'd passed all his classes only to be arrested at graduation.

"So you're adjusting?" She saw him glance at his watch, although it was discreet, as he asked the question.

"Yeah, pretty well." She took a deep breath, maybe she had been avoiding him but there was something she had been needing to say. "Look, I'm sorry about the last time we were… you know, around each other."

"You mean the road trip from hell?" Weevil asked and she swore she saw a hint of a smile.

"Yeah, that. I know I was a total bitch and completely impossible in that backseat and it wasn't like any of it was your fault. I mean, a VW Bug has what? The smallest backseat in the world? But after the entire trip and everything, that ride home was just… it was bad and I was upset and I felt completely justified for taking it all out on you." She had felt ashamed of this fact for the last couple months, regretting that she couldn't even sit in a backseat and behave like a normal twenty-one year old. She acted like a spoiled sixteen year old and, while Logan and Veronica and Duncan hadn't blamed her for her stunted maturity level, she knew that the others did. She was older than they were and they hadn't known her they way those three had, they didn't understand her personality or why she did the things she did. Mac and Dick had probably understood more than most but the only ones she got any leeway with weren't in that car and didn't witness her behavior.

"You know, it was a really stressful trip and it wasn't exactly fun and relaxing for me as V had promised it would be. I don't think anyone came back from that trip in a happy place. Besides Echolls and V because if there are any two people that can turn a melodramatic and miserable trip into a romantic getaway for two it's them." Maybe Logan and Veronica weren't the only ones that let her get away with things because they knew exactly how hard this was for her. Maybe Weevil understood her a little better than she ever thought he did.

"It's just… I want you to know that I'm sorry for it. The way I acted and the way I treated you in that car. I made a promise that I was going to change and grow up and not even twenty-four hours later I was acting like the same old brat. It wasn't fair to you and I know that." She felt sick to her stomach now. She hadn't gotten all that used to apologizing and this felt wrong, that he should be saying he was sorry to her for going off and sleeping with that girl but he wasn't and he shouldn't be because it'd been years and he was over her and she had no right to expect any different from him.

"It's fine Lilly, it's done and over and we can just forget it." He said it like he was passed the whole thing, but she'd seen his entire attitude toward her change the moment she had said she was sorry. She'd always stopped just short of apology with everyone else, except Veronica because she never did play that game, because she thought it was a sign of weakness. The admitting you're wrong thing always seemed like such a copout, that if you did something then you should stand behind it 100% and not apologize for it but, apparently, if you're wrong and you say you're sorry the other people actually appreciate it.

"So, what have you been up to? Anything interesting?" This was another new concept that she'd been working on. She'd always shown just enough interest in other people to entertain her but not enough to actually become invested. The only people she ever remembered listening to when they talked was Duncan and Veronica, and sometimes Logan. That's where Weevil surpassed Logan in the 'who did she mistreat more' contest. She had cheated on Logan but kept Weevil a dirty secret to torture her mother with at a later date, but she had actually listened to Logan when he spoke to her. She hadn't even bothered with Weevil most of the time because he wasn't supposed to be important, he was just a weapon in her pointless war against her mother.

"Well, it's not really all that interesting being a part of the maintenance crew at Hearst College. Maybe a little more interesting than most since this college involves murdered deans and has a girl detective as a student, but mostly it's just replacing light bulbs and that kind of crap. I work at my Uncle Angel's garage a bit after shifts and stuff, sometimes on the weekend. My car is pretty crappy but I've been rebuilding this old Mustang on the side, Angel lets me take parts and stuff if I help out a bit."

She had never realized he had an affinity for cars, just assumed that he'd always be on a bike and never thought that, maybe, being a biker wasn't what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He'd never talked about anything else, never mentioned school or college or any kind of goal so she just assumed he didn't have any. "So are you a muscle car aficionado now?"

"Not really, I just don't want to be driving a shitty car forever. I'm pretty good at the whole garage thing though, and I don't exactly want to be a janitor for the rest of my life. But it's good for now, I have to have a job for my parole and V went through all this trouble to get me the job. I actually helped the Sheriff out with some of the P.I. stuff for a couple days last year. I was pretty good at it, liked it, but I screwed up. Now I just help V with her stuff." She could see where he'd be good at the spy stuff, knowing the criminal mind the way he does.

"I bet you were real good the detectiving stuff. It's so weird thinking about you helping out Mr. Mars, or hanging out with Veronica. Back before I, you know, I don't think you guys even knew each other existed." It was so strange to think of her best friend who wore nothing but pastel cotton hanging out with her secret lover who wore nothing but black leather. The leader of a biker gang and the cotton candy princess of Neptune High, friends. Life had turned out more different than she could ever have imagined it would.

"Yeah, well, she helped me out with some stuff." He scuffed his foot along the ground and stared at the lid of his coffee cup. "And I did know who she was. Before. It was hard not to hear about her in that school, even before. She was your best friend and the Sheriff's daughter and one of the most popular girls in school. At Neptune High she was famous, just like you were. It wasn't just the fact that you were 09ers, it was a matter of the fact that everyone was obsessed with you and her and your whole little clique."

Her eyebrows raised involuntarily, shocked that he had paid any attention to gossip back then. That he had known exactly who her best friend was and that he seemed to have a tiny crush on her, even back then.

"Listen, Lilly, I have to get going. Like I said, I help out at Angel's after my shift here so if I don't get going now I'm going to be late." He stood and stared at her awkwardly for a minute, waiting for her to… what? "Uh… I'll see you later."

"Yeah, I'm going to wait for Parker to get out of class, but we should do this again sometime. You know, hang out. Like friends." Of course that was never going to happen because she was going to die of embarrassment as soon as he left.

"Yeah, that sounds good." He agreed awkwardly, but he gave her a slight smile before he turned and hurried toward what she assumed was his 'shitty' car.

She pulled out her phone and glanced at the time before shooting Parker a quick text about where to meet her when she got out of class. It was four so she had another fifteen minutes to wait, that was fine. She still had almost a whole cup of coffee and a scone to get through.

* * *

Hour 2

21 May 2008 – 8:00pm

~Parker~

"I'm bored." Lilly complained, once again, from beside her on the couch. It wasn't like this was concept for the two of them, they'd been complaining of boredom for the last three hours. Three hours ago they had started homework and studying and now, three hours later they were just as bored but without homework and neither could study anymore than they already had.

"We could go out." Parker suggested, again.

"Oh yes, lets go out and find a party and… wait, what exactly is there to do at eight on a Wednesday night?" Lilly shot down the suggestion just as easily as Parker knew she would. Wednesday wasn't a night for parties and fun, it was a night they usually sat home with Mac and Veronica and watched television. America's Next Top Model had already wrapped up last week and now their television viewing options were limited to reruns and News channels, so Mac and Veronica had ditched them in favor of their boyfriends.

"We don't have to go to a party. We could go to a movie or bowling or something." Even as she made the suggestions she knew that there was no chance either of them would be doing either of these things. There wasn't anything new in theaters that they hadn't already seen except for the recently released biopic of Aaron Echolls, written and produced by Trina Echolls. Parker had never met Trina, even when she was dating Logan, but he never had anything all that nice to say about her and Lilly talked about her like she was a joke and Veronica just changed the subject whenever she came up. According to her friends though, this move was highly unlikely to be anything any of them would enjoy. Secretly though, she and Piz had plans to go see it tomorrow night when all their friends were busy and they could get a glimpse at this great tragedy that has touched all their lives. Then they would never speak of it again.

"A movie? We could go see Into the Breaking Point, the true story about the rise and fall of movie star Aaron Echolls. God, I can't believe Trina actually went through with that crap." Lilly shook her head in annoyance. Logan and Veronica had seemed to brush off this particular brush with fame, they didn't' seem to care all that much. In fact Logan seemed to expect that his sister had made a movie about how wonderful their father was and how all these things had conspired against him in the end, before he was brutally murdered in his hotel room after being acquitted of two counts of attempted murder, assault charges and a whole other slew of charges that Parker couldn't remember. Lilly on the other hand raged against it at every possible opportunity and belittled Trina whenever Logan wasn't in the room.

"Okay, no movie but we could go bowling or mini-golf or something." Parker was desperate to get off the subject of the Aaron Echolls movie. Maybe she and Piz shouldn't go and see it. She knew what happened – basically – back then, she'd been filled in on most of the major details by various members of the group. She still wanted to see the movie though. It was like a train wreck, a tragedy that was just so big and gory, she just couldn't _not_ go and stare at it for a couple hours. She remembered reading about it in the tabloids, and when she'd finally realized at the end of that first year at college that she was not only going to school with but friends with two of the major players she'd barely stopped herself from calling every friend she had in high school and gossip about it. Then she'd realized how that would look to them, even though she had broken up with Logan and wasn't on the greatest of terms with Veronica by then, it would still look pretty bad if she went bragging about how she knew and dated Logan Echolls, son of movie star and attempted murderer.

"I can't believe that people actually went to see that movie. Number one at the box office last weekend! Can you believe that? And Logan and Veronica keep telling me to just ignore it but how can someone ignore an _entire_ movie about what a slut they are? You know that's what Trina made it seem like, and I know that the girl's name isn't Lilly Kane, but come on! Rose Lane? Everyone knows what she was getting at, everyone knows who that's supposed to be. Veronica actually thinks it's funny that the pseudonyms are so basic." Lilly continued to rant. Parker had heard that Lilly and Veronica and Logan had all refused to sign the release so Trina could use their names, so Trina had had to change all their names, although Logan was supposedly really difficult about it. Rose Lane. Vanessa Mercury. Landon Echolls.

"Lilly! Bowling? Golfing? Pick something." Parker interrupted, unable to focus on the movie anymore. She wouldn't go. She's the one that had talked Piz into it so he'd probably be more relieved than put out. Her curiosity didn't extend far enough to deal with the fallout if any of her roommates found out about her voyeuristic need to see the movie based on their lives.

"Neither. I've never bowled in my life and I am so not boring enough to golf. No matter how bored I am." Lilly sat back in the couch and let out a huff of either annoyance or boredom, Parker didn't know but she mimicked the sound.

"Then I'm out of suggestions. What do you got?" There was a time when she was the life of the party and, according to legend, Lilly too. They were supposed the fun ones and now here they were, home alone and bored, boyfriendless. "How is it that we don't have boyfriends? That we're single?"

"I don't know. We're the only ones in the groups not currently involved. Except for Piz.." Lilly groused, turning to flop against the armrest of the couch and swinging her feet up onto Parker's lap. "Maybe we should call into Piz's radio show and harass him about it, meet up with him afterwards? I don't know if he'll have anything better to do than just hang out but bugging him will give _us_ something to do."

"Actually, no. We could call and bug him on the radio, but he's dating this girl named Nikki. They're going out after his show tonight." Parker informed Lilly as she lifted the stereo remote and flipped it on, it was already tuned to the college station. Piz's voice came through the speakers.

"Whatever, I'm calling and bugging him anyway." Lilly decided as she sat up and looked around for her phone. "What's he talking about tonight?"

"I don't know… give it a second." Parker turned the radio up for a second, listening to Piz. He's in the middle of a sentence about women's rights in the current presidential election and how these topics seem to be rolled out for election years and then practically forgotten while in term.

"Excellent." Lilly said evilly, doing an incredible Mr. Burns impression as she snatched up her phone off the coffee table and pressed her speed dial for the station. This had become her habit, calling in to harass Piz on whatever topic he had chosen for the night. Most times she actually got on the radio and sometimes Piz cut off the call when he realized it was Lilly on the other line. Last week she had taken on a fake British accent when Piz had the misfortune of discussing the upcoming Aaron Echolls biopic. According to Piz his producer had basically demanded that it be that night's subject and Lilly had had a field day with it until they went to commercial and Piz had disconnected her.

"You know, I think I'll play, too." Parker announced sliding her own phone out of her pocket. She didn't call in as often as Lilly did but Piz hung up on her way less than he hung up on Lilly.

"It's ringing." Lilly whispered as she turned the radio down. Parker heard Lilly go through the introduction as she spoke to the show producers and was put through to the call list. Lilly almost always got through to the call list, it wasn't until she was actually on the radio that she got cut off. Parker often wondered if the producers liked to torture Piz with Lilly calls, if they warned him at all. Probably not if his groan every time her voice came over the line was any indication.

"Hi." Lilly's voice came from both beside her and over the stereo speakers.

"Hi Lilly." Piz groaned out over the speakers just as Parker's call was answered on the other line, a faceless voice greeting her.

"Hey. I'm calling about the women's rights discussion on Piz's show." She explained, the same way Lilly did sometimes. Sometimes Lilly just called and said her name and she was put through.

"I'll put you through to the call list but I don't know how long it'll be before he gets to the call. Can I get your name?" The guy asked and she smiled as Lilly got more and more worked up in her discussion with Piz.

"Parker Lee." She told the him and he switched her over to hold. Parker always liked being put on hold for the college station because they played the show while you waited to be put on the air. No boring muzak for their callers.

"Parker, you're on the air." Piz said in her ear, to the average listener they would think she was just any other caller but to her – and all their friends – they could hear his annoyance with both of them and the hope that maybe she'd be able to reign Lilly in a bit. No chance. "Maybe you can clarify for Lilly that I was not doubting the importance of women's rights but really saying that trotting them out for election year could be deemed insulting."

Parker returned Lilly's grin, she took a deep breath and began. "Actually, the part I find insulting is the insinuation that during the three term years that are not an election year this subject is forgotten. It isn't though, we're always having to defend our rights to our own bodies and our say in what happens to them. We are always dealing with the objectification of women, on a daily basis, it's only because you don't have to personally deal with it that you don't notice it."

"Did he cut me off?" Lilly whispered to Parker, her hand covering the mouthpiece of her cell phone. Parker shook her head, she didn't think that Piz had cut Lilly off.

"That's not what I meant–" Piz started but was quickly interrupted by Lilly.

"That's what it sounded like, that you think that the subject goes away just because it's not headline news at the moment. For women though, the subject is never far from the surface." Lilly told him, her voice raising an octave by the time she reached the end of her statement.

"It's not something you have experience with, obviously, because you're not a woman and yet you continue to discuss the issue as if you have first hand knowledge. As a white male, you're what society is built around, you're what society helps to succeed. Women, on the other hand, while they can depend on intelligence to a point, it's suggested in media and in day to day life that what really helps a woman is if she's pretty. The pretty ones are the ones that get the jobs because a pretty girl gets all the breaks."

"So basically, what you're saying, Parker, is that if I want to be a scientist I should look no further than the porn shop where I can buy a sexy scientist outfit?" Lilly asked, now too caught up in what she was saying to remember to keep her volume in check and Parker could hear Lilly's voice echo on the radio as it traveled through both her cell phone and Parker's.

"Are the two of you sitting next to each other?" Piz asked as Parker got up and moved into the kitchen.

"No. But that wasn't what I was saying, exactly, it's just that if you're pretty you have an added edge. Studies have shown that men, when the candidates are equally qualified, they'll choose to hire the 'prettier' one instead of the one they'd deem most competent." Parker explained.

"Are you saying that women never let a pretty face affect their judgment?" Piz challenged.

"I'm saying that women aren't as known for letting it affect their _professional_ judgment as men are. It's a much more common occurrence for men to do hire the pretty girl than it is for women to hire a pretty boy. It's only in our personal lives that we let sexual attraction supersede our judgment." She heard Piz sigh and Lilly take a deep breath at the same time.

"I'd have to agree with Parker, to a point. It's true that men let the little head do most of the thinking whether in the professional or the personal realm, but women judge attraction on a different level. Women are more likely to go with the competent man because women are, inherently, attracted competency. They're attracted to a type of man that can, potentially, take care of them." Lilly argued back.

"But the point is, ladies, that the issue of abortion rights is brought up most specifically during election year. It has been consistently and it's not the only issue that gets top billing during the campaign period, keep that in mind. A big hot topic this year is the issue of gay rights and same-sex marriage, almost eclipsing the abortion issue." Piz shot back over the radio, obviously desperate to get off the subject of women and objectification. It was probably a good thing because at some point in this conversation either her or Lilly were going to bring up the fact that he and Wallace are often found staring at the sunbathers on the southeast lawn. Disgusting.

"Are you discussing that disgusting piece of legislature? Prop Hate? Because I've written in about this." Lilly demanded and Parker shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Piz should have known better than to bring up gay rights to Lilly. She was actively participating in the protests against Prop 8 and she had dragged all them to protest meetings at some point or another.

"I know you've written in about it Lilly. _And_ as soon as you're a student here at Hearst I'd be happy to have you on the show to talk about your views, but you'll have to wait until then." _Poor Piz_, Parker thought. She could hear the exasperation in his voice.

"You know Piz, you don't have to have Lilly on to put it out there. There's several on campus groups and organizations that arrange protests and the like. Not to mention the there's a group on campus that I'm sure would be more than happy to participate in an on-air debate for your show." Parker suggested, now trying to become the mediator between the two. Piz and Lilly had been arguing about this for weeks, about his refusal to pander to Lilly's requests to go on air to publicly bash the legislation just because she's a friend.

"Thank you, Parker. I think that's a great idea. I could put you into contact with several members of the on-campus gay rights organization that I'm involved in, despite the fact that I am not _yet_ a student." Lilly offered with such a syrupy sweetness that Parker knew that every listener had to know what she did: that it was feigned sweetness. She was getting what she wanted with an on-air debate, but she obviously still thought she was the most qualified to lead the pro side of the gay rights debate on Hearst campus radio.

"Thank you, Lilly, I'd appreciate that." Piz was obviously not going to acknowledge the challenge in Lilly's tone. He was finally learning. "We're going to go to commercial and then a small music break before we continue taking callers."

Parker heard the sound of a familiar PSA for the campus safe ride program start up and she returned to the living room.

"Is there really nothing else the two of you can do on a Wednesday night than to call and harass me?" Piz complained over the phone. They weren't on-air any longer but obviously still connected to the station.

"Actually, I plan my entire week around your show Piznarski. I mean, how are you going to finally let me on your show if I don't show my dedication week after week?" Lilly asked, her taking on that sweet tone that rang so completely false to anyone that really knew her at all.

"Plus I can't just let you on here to rail against something for an hour. It would only be fair for me to invite Campus Christians for a Pure America to the show to share their point of view." _He couldn't leave it there, could he?_ Parker thought as she heard Lilly gear up for another rant.

"Stosh Piznarski, don't you dare bring those religious nut jobs on there. All they do is quote the bible and anything you have to say against them is either not Christian or they say God will sort you out come judgment day. There's no middle ground for them, everything is either their way – which they claim is _God's _way – or it's hell for you." Lilly yelled into her phone and Parker felt Piz's cringe as well as her own at the use of his full name. It was funny how Lilly preferred to use someone's first _and_ last names when she addressed them.

"She has a point Piz, the CCPA isn't exactly capable of a decent debate because they don't allow for any deviation from what they perceive as God's plan, you might want to try one of the less extreme organizations on campus." Parker suggested, again relegated to the role of mediator.

"I'll think about it." It was the best they were going to get from Piz tonight. No matter how much he tried to hide it, the fact was that he was annoyed at both of them for calling in with such frequency. These were topics that they debated as a group, often, and he probably didn't think it was totally necessary for them to call in and practically take over his show. The one thing he had outside the group. "I'm disconnecting you both now. I'll have five or ten minutes of show left after the commercials and song and I'd like to give the other callers a chance to vent their own opinions about the subject matter of tonight's show."

Parker winced at the formality of his words, of his tone. They'd probably get a call from him later, after the show but before his date, where he'd attempt to bitch them out. It never really worked out for him, though. Lilly always found it so funny when he yelled, she said it was like watching an angry puppy: cute but not at all intimidating. Still, Parker hated it when they made him mad. It was never really her intention to upset him, and it was probably mostly Lilly that did the upsetting, but she always felt guilty that he was upset and they couldn't just let him have this one thing away from them. They couldn't just let him escape them and their opinions and let him go be whoever he wanted to present to his listeners.

She and Lilly hung up their phones at the same time and glanced at each other before Lilly leaned forward for the stereo remote. For all the teasing they did, and they did a lot of teasing, they enjoyed Piz's show for the most part. Sometimes he went off on tangents about things none of them really cared about, bands that none of them had ever heard of, and his topics weren't always something they felt strongly about, but in the end they all supported him. They all listened. Mac and Veronica might be with their boyfriends right now, and Wallace with Tamsin, but Parker knew that they were all tuned in and listening to their friend. It'd taken them all a while but they were a unit now, friends and supporters and allies. Weevil was probably even listening while he worked on that old car in his garage.

Lilly flopped back into the couch cushions before looking over at Parker. "So Parker Lee, what do we do now?"

* * *

Hour 3

20 July 2008 – 9:00 am

~Veronica~

The boxes looked heavy. Really heavy. She wondered, briefly, what exactly it was that Piz had acquired in the last year that was so cumbersome. She couldn't remember anything in their dorm room looking particularly heavy when she had visited it last. Of course that had been months ago and she'd only stayed a minute while Wallace finished getting ready for their BFF night of pizza, talking and surveillance.

It definitely looked heavy and awkward. "What do you think is in there that's so heavy?" She asked aloud to her couchmates.

"I don't know, but it looks like it requires two people to carry it." Mac replied, nodding along with Veronica as they sat and watched as Piz struggled with the large – and apparently heavy – box.

"I hope it's not breakable." Lilly added. "If he drops it, and it breaks, I'm not cleaning up the mess. He's the one that packed it up, he should have known better."

"I think someone should help him." Parker's voice was concerned and she actually leaned forward, her back coming off the couch cushions in a gesture that suggested that she might be the one to get up to help. "He looks like he needs help."

"You know, I can hear you, right?" Piz asked, his voice strained as he continued to struggle with the large box. "And I could use a little help."

"Okay." Veronica said and he looked over at her, hopeful. Silly boy, she hadn't even moved her own stuff when she'd moved into the room he was claiming. Or when she'd moved out of it six weeks ago. "Logan!"

She heard her boyfriend's footsteps thunder up the front steps of the house before he appeared in the front doorway. "Yeah?" He asked, looking at Piz, scanning the room and, finally, landing on her… lounging on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table Lilly had stolen from the expertly decorated second living room of the Kane Estate seven months ago. "If you ask me to get you a glass of water I swear to God I will pour it over your head." He sounded perturbed.

"Piz needs help." She said it innocently, smiling at him. She bit her lip a little bit, tilted her head and watched as any annoyance he'd had completely melted away. They were in the honeymoon state of living together and he couldn't stay mad at her for long. She didn't know when the honeymoon would end and they'd find a balance where they didn't let each other get away with every single thing, so she was determined to take advantage of this for as long as possible.

"Okay, baby." He said, giving her one of those secret smiles that she was only just learning. Normally he would have responded with a little of his trademark sarcasm and wit, asking her if her legs were broke. But instead he turned to Piz and took half the weight of the troublesome box. "What the hell is in here?"

"My text books." Piz responded matter-of-factly.

"And?" Logan prompted, because there was no way that all that was in there was books.

"Some stereo equipment." Again, Piz's responded as if it was obvious what was in the box.

"And?" Logan asked again, backing up the stairs.

"Some blankets to pad the stereo stuff from banging too much against my amp." Piz explained before a look of realization came over his face. "Oh."

"Yeah, _oh_." There was the sarcasm she loved so much. "Just because it fits doesn't mean that it should all go in."

All four of the girls burst out laughing as the two boys slowly made their way up the stairs, bickering all the way.

"You think that we should help?" Parker asked, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, watching the front door for Wallace even though she knew he was unloading his car at the back and through the kitchen so he could go right into the basement. The basement that Veronica had sort of converted into a dark room at the beginning of spring semester when she'd started her new photography class. Hopefully she'd gotten all her equipment out of there, most of the stuff she had in the dark room at her and Logan's place was new and already in there when he'd surprised her with it. She had to have the best boyfriend ever, surprising her with a newly built, state-of-the-art dark room a couple days before she moved in.

"Nah. The boys can get it. There's five of them, in and out of the house, back and forth to the cars. We'd just get in the way, adding four more to the fray." Veronica said and Parker eased back into the couch between the armrest and Lilly. _Didn't take much to convince her_.

"You mean four?" Lilly corrected.

"No, there's five." Veronica assured her best friend that was more like a sister than ever before, after having lived together for six months before Veronica finally broke down and agreed to move in with Logan at the end of their second year at Hearst.

"No. Logan, Piz, Wallace and Dick." Lilly counted each of the boys off on a her right hand before holding out four raised fingers, her thumb tucked into the hollow of her palm. "Four."

"And Weevil. He came showed up right after us with a carload of stuff. Piz has been storing his dorm stuff in Weevil's garage while he was up in Beaverton visiting his parents and getting the rest of his stuff." Veronica explained, seeing a change in Lilly's posture when she mentioned Weevil.

She had been hoping that Lilly had finally let all the Weevil stuff go. Veronica had honestly thought Lilly had moved on. She was dating a guy she'd met on campus at the end of last year. She and Parker had their new radio show that they were starting next week. She was even taking a couple classes over the summer to try and get a head start on her general courses. When, and why, did she have time to pine for Eli Navarro?

"Weevil's here?" Lilly's voice was breathier than normal as she brushed her hair behind her ears and glanced back toward the kitchen where they could hear Wallace and _someone_ coming in with boxes, laughing. They could all tell it was Dick's laugh, but Lilly still looked hopefully towards the voices. Veronica watched as Lilly bit her lip and leaned back over the couch, arching her back ever so slightly as she tried to see down the hall and into the kitchen. It was impossible. Veronica had tried it about a billion times when she lived here and was always curious about what exactly Logan was doing in the kitchen when he was over.

"Yeah. Probably out front though, since he's got Piz's stuff, not Wallace's. Wallace kept his stuff at his mom's place while he was, you know, staying there." Veronica stared sternly at Lilly. She had a boyfriend and had made a promise last year to let this Weevil thing drop. To leave him alone and let him just be over her because they'd decided, together, that she'd already put him through enough.

Lilly's head whipped back around to look at Veronica, her body falling back into it's indentation on the couch. Her face was stubbornly blank but Veronica could see the guilt in her eyes. She was still trying not to, but also trying, to get to Weevil. To get him to remember why he'd been with her in the first place, what he felt before and that even though she hadn't reciprocated his feelings then and had hurt him pretty badly, that she was still here and open to the possibility of revisiting their affair.

"I thought you were through with that." Veronica tried to soften her voice a little, tried not to sound too stern but at the same time get her message across to Lilly. _I thought you weren't going to try and mess with his head anymore._

"Well, it's easy to say it." _It's totally hard and difficult and impossible to actually follow through with what you say._ Veronica could hear the rest of the statement, she saw it echoing out of Lilly's eyes. She could understand it. Hadn't she made the same kind of statements about Logan? Hadn't she found it just as impossible to follow though, to give up on him and whatever they had always been to each other? She knew how hard it could be.

"You've made steps, come so far." _You're dating again. You have a well rounded life that doesn't revolve around your next scandal, around the different ways you can piss Celeste off._ She would hate to see Lilly come so far only to fall back into the mess again. To fall back into the bad habits she'd had.

"I'm not going back." _This is just a hiccup, a lingering feeling. I'm not going to let it go any further._ Lilly's eyes pleaded with her to understand this, that the friendship she'd forged with Weevil was just that. Friendship. Veronica had been shocked when they'd started talking again, even going so far as having coffee once in a while to catch up and hang out. It had seemed like a bad idea, at the time, but Lilly had insisted that they could be just friends and nothing more. It was starting to seem like a bad idea again.

"Does it seem like we're missing something in the conversation." Mac asked from Veronica's left, leaning forward so she could look around Veronica and Lilly to see Parker.

"MacKenzie, you're always missing something." Lilly joked, her voice tense from the non-conversation she and Veronica had just had.

All four of them laughed at the joke and, thankfully, the tension was gone and they were back to hanging out.

"What- You-" They heard Wallace stutter from behind them and she felt herself, and the other three girls, cringe at his voice and the accusation in it.

He stomped around the couch and Veronica knew that she could head tilt and smile her way out of this because Wallace never did fall for that. He was always stubbornly resistant to her tricks.

Standing before them, hands on his hips and a stern look, he looked amusingly like his mother. Veronica remembered the same stance and the same expression on Alicia's face as she stood in front of her son and his best friend while they watched movies and made a mess. Her tricks hadn't worked on Alicia either and she'd always been the one to have to pick popcorn out of the seat cushions while Wallace wielded the vacuum.

"And what, pray tell, do the four of you think you're doing?" Wallace demanded and Veronica swore that she felt the couch sink a few inches into the ground under his weighty stare.

"Hanging out?" Parker said, her words lilting up at the end to make it sound more like a question than a statement. Veronica glanced over to see Parker's shoulders up around her ears as she looked guiltily up at Wallace.

"As I recall that wasn't what we were gathered here for. I thought we were all going to pitch in and get this moving thing out of the way, get all the boxes into the house." Wallace's eyes traveled over the four girls and the couch sunk a couple more inches.

"But we've all been so busy lately, we just need a minute to catch up." Parker's voice wasn't any stronger than it had been a minute ago. Veronica knew she hated to let people down, and she had been pestering them about getting up and helping.

"If you could give us a couple more minutes Wallace, we would probably be a lot more helpful if we got all the gossip out of the way." Lilly's voice was stronger than Parker's had been, but she was obviously a little thrown by such a stern Wallace.

"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas." Wallace repeated his mother's old saying, completing the effect and Veronica had a hard time keeping the laugh in. She could see the strain around Wallace's mouth, he was having a hard time keeping this up. He just needed one little push…

"I still don't get what that means." Veronica said, looking right in his eyes as she raised an eyebrow and smirked.

That was it. Wallace burst out laughing before cramming himself onto the couch between Mac and Veronica, throwing his arms over both girls. "Me neither."

Parker looked confused and still a little guilty over her lack of help, her shoulders slowly easing down to their normal position. She was going to give in, Veronica knew it. Parker was going to get off the couch and go help the boys move into the house.

"You know, I always did kind of like this big ole house that you girls moved into. Reminds me of my old house up in Chicago. Although I don't remember there being this many girls in that house." Wallace reminisced as he propped his feet up on the coffee table next to Veronica's.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Dick asked, suddenly standing in front of the couch, glaring at Wallace. He looked sweaty and annoyed, probably didn't want to spend the day helping his friends move into their rooms. Especially since he and Logan had had to cut their surf short this morning in order to meet up with them.

"I'm trying out the girls' way of moving, it looked a hell of a lot more fun." Wallace explained, giving Veronica a look that made her slightly more guilty than the sternness he'd faked earlier. "After all, this is how Veronica got moved in _and _out of this place."

"Oh, well then…" Dick said as he flopped back into the lounge chair across from the couch. "Do the boxes just float in by themselves or is there a ghost situation going on?"

Dick's eyebrows were raised in question and he was looking at her for the answer. Wallace looked at her expectantly as well and Veronica barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at them. Their jokes weren't quite as funny as they thought they were.

"I don't remember, I didn't pay all that much attention but if memory serves you were both there," she pointed at her best friend and her boyfriend's best friend before continuing. "Do you remember any ghosts? Did they help you with the boxes?"

"Oh, that's right. They don't move themselves." Wallace exclaimed like it was a suddenly new concept to him, that it took physical labor to move into a new place.

"Oh, fine then. I'll help." Veronica said to the boys indulgently, pushing up off the couch and walking towards the front door.

"Um, V? My stuff is out back." Wallace informed her, getting off the couch himself. His head jerked in the direction of the kitchen and the backdoor and, what she assumed, the general direction of the car and his stuff.

"I said I'd help, didn't say I'd help _you_." Veronica smirked at him as Logan game barreling down the stairs. He stopped at the bottom, his arm wrapping around her waist as he turned himself to face the rest of the group.

"What's going on?" He asked her as his other arm wrapped around her, pulling back against him as his chin settled down on her shoulder.

"Wallace is trying to guilt trip and Dick is nagging, you know, the usual." She said in a light voice. Mac stood and tugged at Dick's hand until he stood up next to her.

"Is there a reason I'm the only one outside moving stuff?" Weevil's voice came from behind her and Logan and the entire group of friends seemed to turn towards him simultaneously. He had two boxes, one under each arm, and looked rather annoyed with that fact. "Y'all taking a break? This ain't a one man Mexican moving company."

"No, we were just discussing who was all going to help Wallace and who was going to help Piz. We're coming." Veronica told him, giving him a reassuring smile. He was being nice enough to give up his morning off to come and help, she didn't want him to think that it wasn't appreciated.

Piz chose that moment to come down the stairs, walk over to the couch and flop down between Wallace and Lilly, taking Veronica's recently vacated spot. "Man, that box was heavy."

Logan's arms slipped out from around Veronica and he went back outside to grab a few more boxes. Wallace, Dick and Mac headed towards the back of the house to continue unloading Wallace's stuff. Parker eased herself off the couch, gave Weevil a tight smile and headed out front too. Lilly remained resolutely on the couch, her feet propped up on her mother's second favorite coffee table, studying her nails with a nonchalant air of indifference.

"You ain't helpin', Kane?" Weevil asked from the doorway, his eyebrows raised in question. It was some new, weird thing he had, calling her Kane instead of her first name. Like it made them more friends than former lovers if he did the guy thing and called her by her last name.

"I don't think so, _Navarro_." Veronica heard the barely contained annoyance in her voice as she said his last name. She did not enjoy being called Kane. "I'm already going to have to live with them, and in Piz's case work with him, do I really have to move them in too? Am I not sacrificing enough?"

"It wasn't my idea to let you and Parker on the radio. If it was up to me you'd both be banned from calling in to the station. Instead the manager thinks you're both so cute and need your own show." Piz complained, yet again, that his producer and the station manager had decided that the girls needed their own show. Apparently they helped with ratings whenever they were on and the producers were impressed how they could argue with each other without it getting too heated. Lilly would get passionate and Parker would reign her in when necessary. They were able to discuss politics, religion, movies, celebrities and school policy without getting too annoying. They're show was, conceptually, an hour long talk radio show where they'd play some Top 40 in the middle of the afternoon. The part that Piz was most annoyed with though was the fact that they were combining it with his Wednesday night show. He'd be on air five days a week now, but he had to share the show with two of his new roommates.

"Get over it Piznarski. Or at least save it for the air waves." Lilly pushed at him with her foot. She would never admit it but she had a soft spot for Piz, no matter how much she denied it. When she, Parker and Mac had agreed to let Wallace and Piz move into the Big House she had told Veronica that it would be just like having a puppy. One that could potentially change the light bulbs, get the stuff off the top shelves in the kitchen and finally fix that annoying leak in the upstairs bathroom. Veronica hadn't had the heart to tell her that it was more likely that the light bulbs would need changing because neither he nor Wallace ever turned off the lights, the stuff on the top shelf would be gone because they ate like they'd never seen food before and neither boy would go near that leak because the tampons were kept under that particular sink.

Veronica left Lilly and Piz to continue arguing and followed Weevil outside to help with the boxes. She rubbed her hands together in faux anticipation as she reached the car where Logan and Parker stood, pulling boxes out. "What can I do?" Her enthusiasm sounded just as fake as it felt.

"Here." Logan said as he handed her a pile of pillows.

She hadn't really been looking forward to lugging boxes up and down the stairs but she was a little insulted by this offering of pillows. "I can take more than that." She said indignantly, scowling at her boyfriend as he pulled another box out of the back of her car.

Piz had stored a bunch of his stuff in Logan's garage after his parents had brought a load down right before finals week. Apparently they were moving into a smaller house and there wasn't any room for most of Piz's stuff, he'd picked up the rest when he'd gone up to stay for a couple weeks.

"Okay, if you insist." Logan piled a blanket on top of Veronica's pile of pillows before he leaned forward, gripped her shoulders and kissed her forehead before turning her towards the house and lightly patting her on the ass. "Off you go."

Her jaw dropped in shock and indignation, but she could hear Logan chuckling behind her and she knew he was expecting her to turn and yell at him. Instead she marched up the front walk and stairs, pounding her feet and making as much noise as she could. Piz passed her on his way out of the house but he didn't say a word, merely raised his eyebrows as he tried to avoid running into her.

"Wow, Veronica, way to really strain yourself." Lilly commented sarcastically from the couch then laughed at Veronica's answering growl of indignation.

She trudged up the stairs toward the smallest bedroom that had been previously occupied by Mac. When Veronica had moved out the three remaining girls had played a game of musical bedrooms. When they had moved in originally they'd numbered the bedrooms and then pulled numbers out of a hat to see who got which room. Veronica had lucked out with the larger bedroom that had a connecting bathroom. Parker had gotten the second largest, Lilly the third and Mac the smallest. When Veronica had moved out they'd sort of rotated. Parker moved into Veronica's old room, Lilly into Parker's and Mac into Lilly's leaving the tiny upstairs bedroom open for one of the boys. Wallace had claimed the basement and Piz got stuck upstairs in a little room surrounded by girls.

Veronica threw the pillows and blanket onto the bed before turning and running right into Parker and Logan. Parker teetered slightly with her box and Logan dropped his in order to stop Parker from falling. "Hope that wasn't anything important." Logan mumbled as he slid his box just inside the bedroom door with his foot. Parker gently set her box on the desk in the corner of the room.

Logan headed back downstairs, glancing at his watch. "Veronica, we better get going if we're going to pick the Munchkin up by Celeste's designated time. You know how she gets when we're late, ranting and raving about how we don't take it seriously and," Logan's voice took on a higher register in what had officially become his Celeste's-a-bitch voice, "what was Duncan thinking letting two troublemakers like us have access to his baby girl."

"Okay, let's just make sure everything is out of the back of my car. We have to run by the house to grab her booster seat or we'll get an earful about that, too." Veronica told him as she followed him out of the house, jogging to her car.

* * *

Hour 4

22 September 2008 – 7:00pm

~Mac~

He had tried. That's what counted, right? Dick had tried to make their anniversary as special as possible, no matter how much it hadn't worked out. Her class had run late so they hadn't mad their six-thirty reservations and now they couldn't get into her favorite restaurant until nine and that conflicted with the movie showing he'd already bought tickets for. The earlier showing had sold out and the only other showing that had any tickets available didn't start until nearly eleven and she had an eight o'clock Tuesday morning.

"So, should we wait to eat at nine or should we eat now and go to the movie at eight?" Dick asked, looking at her with a sad little smile. He'd been so excited to make the one year mark, he'd been planning their night for over a week and she had ruined it with her stupid advanced computer theory class that she hadn't even really wanted to take because it seemed like such a colossal waste of time. She should have taken it last year but she'd been hoping that she could just skip it even though it was required for her major. Then her professor had lectured on and on and on, as if it was the most important thing you'd ever have to know about computer programming, the theory of it. That class ran consistently late every week and she couldn't bring herself to get up and leave while the professor was still talking even though it was going on three years of college and she'd seen others do it quite often.

"Well, I'm famished. We can eat there another night, maybe this weekend when we don't have to worry so much about time." Mac knots her fingers with his, smiling at him so he won't feel so bad about the night not going as he'd planned. He didn't often plan anything more than an early morning surf trip with Logan or when to meet Mac for lunch, it wasn't his style, so when he'd planned the evening out it'd made it even more special. More important because Dick wasn't just going to 'wing it' like he did most everything else.

"You want to hit the food court then? It's not the most romantic place to eat, but they have all the vegan stuff and we'll still be able to make the movie." Dick suggested. They were still standing, hand in hand, outside the building her computer theory class had been in, right where he'd said he'd meet up with her after his own Intro to Business Law ended at five-thirty. Poor Dick had waited outside, in the dark, for nearly an hour before Mac and the rest of her class came pouring out of one of the side doors.

"Sure." She liked the eggplant lasagna that they served at the Italian place and the sweet potato fries and garden burgers they served at the vegetarian place across from that. Dick could have all the fried chicken and steak-on-a-stick he wanted also and they'd both be happy. It may not be romantic but they'd both get what they wanted and they'd be able to eat it together. There was probably champagne at home, legally obtained by Dick's completely legit ID since he'd turned twenty-one a little over two weeks ago. They could be romantic when they got home, right now she just needed food and to vent a little about her stupid class and her stupid professor and his inability to keep track of time.

It wasn't a long walk to the food court, as easy as walking straight across the lawn and into the side door of the student union. Dick set her down at a table and offered to go get their food – the eggplant lasagna, which seemed better suited t the occasion than a burger and fries – and drinks. She smiled and watched him walk off before she slid out of her chair and walked over to the glass fronted radio booth where Parker and Lilly were sitting, covering for one of the other deejays who apparently was sick this week. Lilly waved her to come in as Parker got up to open the door for her. Katy Perry's 'I Kissed a Girl' faded into the Ting Tings 'Shut up and Let Me Go' as Mac entered the booth.

"Hey, I thought you guys were eating at some fancy restaurant tonight?" Parker asked at the same time that Lilly said "Don't tell me Dick is too cheap to take you somewhere _other_ than the food court for your big night."

"No, my class ran late so we missed our reservations. We can't get in until nine now and Dick has tickets for that movie we were all going to see on Friday but it was sold out. We can't see it earlier so we're going to eat here and then the movie at eight." Mac explained, leaning against the wall as she watched Dick through the big glass window. He was still waiting for her lasagna and whatever he was getting, holding a tray with just two sodas sitting on it. She glanced over at their book bags sitting at their empty table, keeping their space for only as long as it took for the other tables to fill up.

"That sucks." Parker and Lilly said at the same time. They were spending way too much time together.

"I better get back to the table before Dick gets back or one of our bags get stolen." Mac shoved off the wall and headed to the door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, kay?"

"Yeah, there's another song set up after this but we'll dedicate one to you and Dick after that." Lilly offered, already scanning a song list for something appropriate and Parker was getting up to walk her to the door.

"Sorry your night isn't going as planned." Parker said softly, giving Mac a tight conciliatory smile before giving her a hug goodbye. Mac thought it was funny that after two years among the emotionally retarded Neptune elite, Parker still felt the need to give comfort hugs. It was one of the best things about her, even if she never did get a return hug.

She walked quickly back to the table and slid into her seat just as Dick turned and headed for their table, a tray laden with her lasagna, his pasta, two sodas and what looked like a very large slice of chocolate cake.

"Mmm… cake. Are we going to start with that? Veronica always says that dessert should come before the meal, otherwise you're too full to enjoy it." Mac informed her boyfriend as she stabbed the cake with her fork.

"Yeah, Veronica also justifies dessert for dinner by adding a cherry on top of her sundae." Dick said, giving her a look just a little reminiscent of her father when she tried to use the same logic on him at dinner a few days ago.

"Okay, then I'll just have this little bite. A kind of teaser to the chocolaty goodness that awaits the end of my lasagna." Mac said, wrapping her mouth around her fork and sliding it slowly out of her mouth, watching Dick as he watched her.

"Don't be mean." He twirled noodles around his fork and a popped the rather large bite into his own mouth as he glared at her. She merely smiled back at him as she began eating her own food, staring back at him and not really looking at what she was doing. _What's an anniversary without a little staring contest?_ She thought as Dick's eyebrows jumped a little, trying to get her to look away and break the stare. _No way, buddy._ She vaguely heard the song morph from the Ting Tings into Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' and she vaguely hoped that _this_ wasn't the song Lilly thought to dedicate to them.

Dick shoved extra large bites into his mouth, tucking the food into his cheeks as he chewed and she felt herself beginning to crack. He swallowed a little before he spoke around the food in his mouth. "Want seafood?" and she turned her head away quickly before he could open his mouth and show her what was in there.

Mac squeezed her eyes shut and wrinkled her nose and uttered a small "Damn" as she realized his trick a moment too late. Dick swallowed loudly and then laughed.

"And now, a special dedication to Mac and Dick for hitting the one year mark." Parker announced over the radio.

"May you be as disgustingly cute in the next year as you were in the last. Congrats guys." Lilly picked up where Parker left off. "Muah." Mac and Dick both looked over to see Parker and Lilly making kissy faces at them as the subtle strains of The Plain White T's '1 2 3 4' began.

"Gross, you two are dating?" And a glass of cold water was suddenly dumped over their heads in the form of Madison Sinclair, bitch extraordinaire.

"What's it to you Madison?" Dick asked, his voice tense and annoyed. He glared up at his ex-girlfriend, but Mac turned to her food and dug in with a little more concentration than was necessary. The last time she'd seen Madison had been rather traumatic. Not that the news that they had been switched at birth was such a big deal to anymore, she'd had years to cope with it, but Madison's reaction had been a little tough to witness.

Mac had known it was a bad idea for the eight of them to sit down like one big happy family and break the news to them all in one fell swoop. Madison had thought it was a joke and, when it became apparent that it wasn't, she had shown everyone the side only other students at Neptune High got to witness. The raging and screaming about how it wasn't fair and she wasn't going to allow them to tell her that she's nothing like this other family. She's not trash and she certainly doesn't have anything in common with the loser computer freak from high school. She'd gone storming up to her room, screaming about how she wasn't going to be sharing anything with Mac and Mac could just forget it. Mrs. MacKenzie had tried to smooth it over but the Sinclairs had been too shocked at the fact that the girl they had raised had behaved in such a way when Mac had taken the news so gracefully. Of course Mrs. Sinclair and Mac both knew that she had known for years, but neither had mentioned it since their moment on the street in front of the MacKenzie house almost four years earlier.

"I'd like to know if I'm going to be seeing this around campus now that I go here." Madison's voice was just as snotty as it had been at every prearranged dinner since that night when the truth of their parentage had been announced. Madison was never going to get over this, never going to let things equalize into some version of normal.

"You go to Hearst now?" Mac asked, shocked that she hadn't heard about it until now. The Sinclairs and the MacKenzies had been sharing an awful lot of information with each other over the past several months, trying to get to know each of the daughters they had given up knowing for so long. Mac had assumed she would be kept in the loop of such major changes, how had this happened without her knowing?

"Yes. Apparently my behavior a few weeks ago left a lot to be desired and _my_ parents thought I should be closer to home. I guess they think I've done too much partying and not enough studying at my previous college, but I'm sure you'll be welcome to take my place. After all, you seem completely at ease taking _all_ of my leftovers so far." Madison's voice dripped with venom as she looked between Mac and Dick.

A guy behind Madison cleared his voice and Mac realized that Madison was on a date herself. The guy looked a little familiar, like one of the basketball players on Wallace's team, but she couldn't place his name.

"Oh, right. This is my boyfriend, Mitchell. I'm not done with him yet though, Mac, so you'll have to wait for my sloppy seconds." Madison sneered. Mac wondered when the appropriate time to go from empathetic and forgiving about the whole thing to bitchy and violent. She was thinking now was about the right time, maybe she'd give Veronica a call and plot a little revenge with her friend that was so good at it.

"Actually, _Madi_, if you think about it, it's really just an equalizing thing. I was with you for so long but it was because I was supposed to be with Madison Sinclair but you weren't the right one. Now I'm with who I'm supposed to be with and I'm realizing why everything with you was _so_ bad. Because you're second rate." Dick interrupted Madison's tirade. Mac had asked him to cut her a little slack when she'd explained the situation to him the night after their parents had dropped the switched-at-birth-bomb. He'd agreed but she'd never been so happy that he had ignored her and done what he wanted anyway. "Makes sense right? You were always supposed to be a wannabe and some how there was a mistake and you were given a shot at friends you weren't supposed to have. It couldn't last forever, right?"

Madison's mouth dropped in shock and Mac could see her frantically searching for words to say, to shoot down Dick's words and what he meant and the truth of it. She hadn't been meant to be an 09er and, if it weren't for a little mistake, she would have always been on the outside looking in and wanting so desperately to have the life that Mac would have had. Madison had to know that if it hadn't been for the grace of their parents and their attachment in those first three years, she could have been back at the MacKenzie house for the seventeen years since they had all found out about the switch, living a mediocre existence. Mac had only made it this far because of superior genes of her birth family and the understanding of the family that raised her. Mac had the talent of a Sinclair but humility of a MacKenzie.

"Come on Mitchell." Madison ground out, grabbing her boyfriend's hand and dragging him off towards the other side of the food court, far away from Mac and Dick and everything they represented.

"Sorry about that. I hope you don't think that I was insulting your family or anything it's just that–" Dick started, looking down at his empty plate. She could hear the scuffing of his sneaker against the linoleum of the floor.

"I don't think you were insulting them, not on purpose." Mac assured him, reaching across the table to hold his hand. "That was kind of awesome though."

"Yeah? I know you said to cut her some slack, but I couldn't just sit back and let her say what she was saying, you know?" Dick looked up at her and smiled and suddenly Mac wasn't hungry anymore. She didn't want chocolate cake or to rush to a movie or anything but to get Dick alone so she could just kiss him and not have to worry about who was watching or what they would say. "Anyway, I think that with Madison, if you let her get too far she thinks she's allowed and she'll never stop."

"Let's go." Mac said suddenly, sliding out of her chair and tugging on his hand for him to follow her.

"You're not done with your lasagna… and the cake." He was saying but she looked back to see him grab their book bags and follow, his hand never slipping out of hers.

She pulled him out of the building and halfway across the lawn towards his SUV before he tugged her backwards. She stumbled a bit into his arms and he kissed her, deep and loving his hands coming up to frame her face a moment before she broke away from him and started the pull him towards the parking lot again.

It was even darker by time they reached his car and they stood there in dim yellow glow from the security lights a few rows away from his car. He pressed her against the back passenger door, his mouth on hers, one hand on her breast as the other pulled open the front door to shove the bags inside. She reached out and slammed the door shut and gave him a small shove away from her. He looked at her, confusion in his eyes as he went to open the door for her again, but she moved away from him and the car, opening the door he'd had her pressed against. She bit her bottom lip as she slid backwards into the backseat of his Escalade. She'd teased him mercilessly over the last seven months since he bought the behemoth of a vehicle, but she was grateful for it and the big back seat and what she planned to do him back there.

"What are you doing Ghost World?" His voice was filled with affection and she no longer cringed in annoyance at the nickname. It may have started out as an insult but he hadn't meant it that way in a long time. Now it was something he teased her with at night when he tugged on a chunk of colored hair before he kissed her.

Dick crawled in after her and pulled the back door shut behind him. She attacked him, pressing him against the inside of the door he'd just closed, her lips fusing to his and her hands running up his chest, his shirt bunching around her wrists. "Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you got the extra dark tinted windows?" She whispered, her voice was husky and lust filled and she blushed at the sound of it.

"No, I don't think you ever mentioned it." Dick's voice was rough and surprised as she pulled his shirt off of him in the backseat of his car. "You know I didn't get it for this, right?" The last question was said nervously, as her hands dropped to the button on his jeans. He was hard, she could feel that with just the lightest brush of her hand at the front of his crotch. It didn't take much to get him excited. She unbuttoned his pants but didn't go any further than that.

Mac backed away from him, sliding across the back seat to press herself against the other door, giving herself enough room to kick off her ballet flats and pull off her own jeans. She left her underwear on and reached out for Dick, meeting him in the middle of the seat. She straddled him and his hands fell to her hips, gripping her as his fingers slid in the waistband of her underwear, just a little. Her own hands slid into his hair as she put her mouth back on his and their tongues met and mated, mimicking the actions that his rocking hips suggested.

Dick's hands pressed her down against him and she moaned a little, encouraging both that and the path his mouth took down the side of her neck. He quickly rid her of her shirt and tossed it far into the back along with her jeans and his own shirt, his hands quickly returning to her hips. His ass lifted off the seat as he thrust upwards, grinding against her the same moment that his mouth cover her breast, nipping at it through the material of her bra.

Her hands slid down to grip his shoulders at the same moment she felt one of his slide up her back to release the clasp of her bra. She released him for a moment to slid the straps down her arms and then that too joined the rest of their clothing in the back. Her nails, as short as they may be, dug into the cords of muscle of his shoulders as he continued to attend to her breasts. She gasped when he thrust upwards again, straining at the confines of his jeans, and then rolled to the side so she could pull her underwear off. He took the opportunity to push his jeans and boxers down passed his hips, his erection springing almost comically free. He tried to toe off his shoes and kick his pants the rest of the way off as she swung her leg back over him, straddling him once more.

"The movie starts soon." He mumbled, gripping her hips.

She could hear the hope in his voice and smiled. "Screw the movie." And with that he thrust upwards sliding in and they both let out long moans of satisfaction.

He pulled out slightly and she thought about how he wasn't wearing a condom and she couldn't remember if she'd taken her pill this morning, or yesterday, and they should really have the added protection of the condom either way and she knew there was one somewhere in this massive vehicle and they were in the middle of a parking lot of a college campus and if the car's a-rockin' then don't come knockin' and… and then he slammed back into her and all her thoughts spun away and everything faded until it was just the two of them there, in the backseat of his mansion on wheels. Together.

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**A/N:** I hope everyone remembered that this takes place **_before_ **Chapter 37. This chapter was easy to write, it just kind of flowed out, which was nice considering I had such trouble with chapter 39 that I had to pause in the middle of writing that to write this chapter. Hope you all liked it, we'll get back to 'present day' in the next chapter.


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